Crossing the Stream: A Bioware Crossover
by goldenEY3
Summary: When a routine mass relay jump goes wrong, Shepard finds herself in a world where magic, dwarfs and elves exist. Can she find a way back, and can she really trust this man called Hawke?
1. Chapter 1

Crossing the Stream

A Bioware Crossover fiction.

Contains spoilers for _Mass Effect 2 _and _Dragon Age 2_.

Chapter 1

"Course set in. Hitting the relay in five minutes."

"Sounds good, Joker. Call me when we're at the Citadel," Shepard said, walking away from the helmsman's chair.

"Fighting the Collectors, killing a prototype Reaper, this deserves some kind of R&R. Cerberus gives us vacation pay, right?" Joker asked.

"Cerberus directives do not have any details on vacation pay, Jeff," EDI said in 'her' usual disembodied voice. "My guess is that they are expected to work non-stop."

"Right, because we gotta please the Illusive Man," Joker muttered.

"Not the Illusive Man, but your soon-to-be computer overlord."

Shepard and Joker slowly turned on EDI's holographic display.

"That was a joke."

"Not cool, EDI," Joker grumbled. "Almost gave me a heart attack."

"Since when did you start getting a sense of humor?" Shepard asked.

"I'm an AI, Shepard. The more I'm exposed to human behavior, the more I learn to mimic it," EDI replied. "Jeff constantly makes jokes about me ruling over humans."

"And you're just mimicking it, right?"

"Don't worry, Shepard, I'm quite incapable of harming humans."

"Sure, that's what they all say. Next thing you know, we'll all be turned into double-A batteries for you to use while our minds live in some kind of simulated reality," Joker muttered.

"EDI, if you're going to have a sense of humor, try watching some good stand-up skits," Shepard said. "And Joker? Try to find something else to joke about."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

><p>"You go too far, Meredith!"<p>

"I have not gone far enough! There are blood mages in the Circle tower, Orsino, and you will let me in!"

"The way you two argue. The next thing you know, people will begin to think you're an old married couple," Hawke said, leading his group to face the two bickering leaders.

"Champion! You are show your face now, when you're all but sided with the mages?" Meredith demanded.

"I called him here," First Enchanter Orsino said, forcing himself to be calm. "The Champion may help us yet."

"Please, can we all just calm down here?" Hawke asked, stepping in-between Knight-Commander Meredith and First Enchanter Orsino. "I'm sure we can all work something out here."

"There can be no 'working something out,'" Anders said, stepping forward.

"What do you mean?" Orsino said.

"We must all take sides. There can be no compromise," Anders said, hitting the floor with his staff.

The ground began to quake, nearly knocking everyone off their feet.

"Anders, what are you doing?" Hawke demanded.

"Andraste's tits," Varric yelled. "Hawke, the Chantry!"

Looking up, Hawke saw red light spill from the Chantry. The ground shook harder, then the Chantry exploded, each piece carried into the air on a terrifying column of red light.

* * *

><p>"Any plans for our well-deserved vacation, Commander?" Jacob asked, setting down the newly cleaned pistol.<p>

"I'm giving everyone here as much time off as they need," Shepard said, pacing the armory.

"I'm sure Cerberus would love it if we just took off," Jacob chuckled.

"If they don't like it, they can go to hell."

"If you don't mind me asking, are you okay? I don't think I've ever seen you get this angry this fast."

Shepard paused. Jacob was right. She _was_ angry. She didn't let herself get angry much, at least not after Akuze.

"It was the suicide mission, wasn't it?" Jacob said. "Shepard, you don't need to be angry. We all made it out alive, thanks to you."

"It's not that, Jacob," Shepard said. "It's...it was just too much like Akuze. Everything wanting you dead, never being in a safe spot...It just sent me to a very bad place."

"But you survived then, and you survived now," Jacob said. "You should be happy for that."

"I am happy, and I'm happier knowing that no one here died," Shepard said. "But fighting a Thresher Maw on foot, and watching all of your friends die, you don't forget something like that. You see it everywhere."

"I think I can understand," Jacob said. "When I got word that my father died, I saw him everywhere. A passing face, a quick glance, and I thought he was there."

"At least you knew your family, Jacob. I never knew mine."

Suddenly the Normandy shook, nearly throwing Jacob into a bulk head.

"What the hell?"

Shepard grabbed the nearest wall and opened the door to the armory. Everywhere on the main deck, Cerberus officers were being thrown to the ground. Kelly was flung across the deck, and Shepard barely had time to steady herself before the two collided.

"Status report," Shepard yelled, helping Kelly get to her feet. "Joker, what the hell is going on?"

"I don't know," Joker yelled from the cockpit. "The mass relay just lit up like nothing I've ever seen before."

"Abandon the jump. Get us out of here," Shepard said as she struggled towards the cockpit.

"I'm trying!"

"We're locked in the mass relay's gravitational field. We're being pulled in at an alarming rate," EDI said. "That is not right."

"More good news, EDI?" Shepard said. The Normandy rocked again, throwing her into a bank of navigational computers.

"The mass relay's mass effect fields are...inverting."

"Inverting? Is that even possible?" Joker yelled.

"No, it's not even theoretically possible," EDI replied. "We will hit the relay in twenty seconds."

"All hands, brace for impact," Shepard yelled, keying the ship-wide comm.

* * *

><p>The Chantry was destroyed. Pieces of the building rained down on Kirkwall. Hawke shakily got to his feet, looking at the gaping crater where the Chantry once stood.<p>

"Anders, what have you done?" He gasped.

"I removed the possibility of compromise because there _was_ no compromise," Anders said. "It can either be the mages or the Templars. We all must take sides in this battle!"

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Orsino demanded.

"The Chantry is destroyed. The Grand Cleric killed, by a mages' hands," Meredith said slowly, her eyes burning red. "This is an act of war! I'm evoking the Right of Annulment! All mages will be killed!"

* * *

><p>The Normandy hit the mass relay, and disappeared in a beam of red light.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Shepard was thrown around like a rag doll. She thought the Normandy would shake itself apart before it was all over. Then, with one last great shake, it stopped. Shepard struggled to get to her feet.

"Is everyone alright?" She asked, gasping for breath.

"Shepard, Jeff is unconscious," EDI said.

"Is he alive?"

"It appears so, but he will need immediate medical attention," the AI replied. "He's hurt quite badly."

Her vision swimming, Shepard limped to the helm and saw Joker lying in his chair, his left arm bent mid-forearm. She grimaced.

"Where are we?" Shepard asked.

"Unknown," EDI said. "The jump shorted out the engine core. I'm currently running the Normandy on its emergency hydrogen fuel cells."

Shepard's omni-tool blinked, signaling a call.

"_Shepard, what was that?"_ Tali asked.

"We don't know. Are you all right, Tali?"

"_I'm a little beat up, but I think I'm alright,"_ the Quarian groaned.

"Can you get the engine back up and running? We're dead in the water right now."

"_I'll see what I can do."_

"Shepard, we've fallen into a planet's gravity well," EDI said.

"This day just gets better and better!" Shepard said. "What planet is it?"

"Unknown. I'm picking up very strange readings, too."

"One step at a time, EDI. What do we need to do to get the engine back up and running before we fall out of the sky?"

"It appears that we're leaking Element Zero in the engine room. We need to seal it before we can restart the engines."

Shepard keyed her omni-tool.

"Grunt, you still with us?"

"_Of course, Shepard," _the krogan replied._ "What kind of stunt did you try to pull this time?"_

"No stunt, something went FUBAR," she said. "We're dead in the water and leaking eezo in the engine room. Help Tali get that plugged up."

"_I'm on it."_

"And Grunt? You'd better hurry. We're caught in a planet's gravity well and will be going down soon."

"Five minutes, to be precise," EDI added.

"_Got it,"_ the krogan barked.

"Shit, we're gonna need more hands," Shepard said. She keyed the ship-wide comm channel. "All hands, this is Shepard. We hit some trouble with the mass relay, and we're in an unknown part of space. We're dead in the water and caught in a planet's gravity well; EDI says we got five minutes before we fall to a planet. I need as many available hands to help carry the injured to the med bay, and all other able-bodied report to the engine room to restart the engine."

"Commander, are you alright?" Mordin asked, walking up to the front of the ship.

"I am, but Joker isn't. Help me get him get to the med bay."

Shepard's omni-tool rang again.

"_Shepard,"_ Tali yelled._ "Cancel the help. We're not going to have the engines patched up before we fall to the planet."_

"Fuck! All hands, belay the last order. Help get the injured to the med bay and brace for impact!"

* * *

><p>"No! I will not fall to traitorous hands!" Meredith screamed. "Maker damn you all!"<p>

She lunged at Hawke, knocking his sword from his hands.

"Flame take you! Die!"

Hawke brought his shield up, smashing Meredith's face. She fell to the ground, spitting blood and teeth.

"I must not fall," she continued to rant. "I will protect this city! And I will kill you! Maker, grant your servant the strength to carry out your will!"

Meredith's lyrium sword exploded. Her hands, arms, legs and face were coated in the terrible red lyrium, and began burning her. Screaming, she slowly burned, becoming a pure red lyrium statue of herself.

Gasping for breath, Hawke stood up. Bethany was helping Aveline to her feet, Anders was healing Isabella, and Templars were slowly filing the Gallow's courtyard.

"Hawke?" Merril said. "What do we do now?"

"We need to leave. Now."

There were more than twenty Templars in the Gallows. More still trickled in.

"Bethany! We need to move," Hawke called to his sister.

"Damn it all," she swore, seeing the Templars start to heard them together.

"You still want a fight?" Hawke said, glaring at the surrounding Templars. They shifted uneasily. Hawke picked up his sword and held it at the ready. He doubted he could face one able-bodied Templar, let alone twenty. "Well?"

The Templars slowly moved, giving them space to leave the Gallows.

"Come on, we're leaving," Hawke said, walking towards the exit.

"But to where?" Merril asked.

Looking up, Hawke saw a massive star falling. Templars cursed and gasped as they saw the thing burning across the sky.

"By the Creators, is the entire sky falling?" Merril gasped.

"If it is, we'd better move," Hawke said. "We'll head to the far side of Sundermount. Come on."

* * *

><p>Shepard helped Mordin carry Joker to the med bay as the Normandy started falling into the planet's atmosphere.<p>

"My God, Jeff!"

"Get him secured, Dr. Chakwas. He broke enough bones already," Shepard said, setting Joker on a table. "EDI! What's our time until impact?"

"Three minutes, Shepard."

"Why can't I catch a fucking break?" Shepard muttered, grabbing a seat in the mess hall. Miranda helped an injured crewman to the med bay.

"Crash imminent. Brace for impact," EDI said over the ship wide comms.

Shepard gripped the table as the Normandy made contact with the planet. It bucked and shook, throwing unsecured items across the deck. The Normandy bounced four times until it set down, tearing up ground and rocks as it decelerated. Finally, it stopped.

Gasping for breath, Shepard stood up. The Normandy was an absolute wreck, almost as bad as when they faced the Collectors. Lights were blown out, wall plates had buckled, and wiring had shook itself free. Around her, Cerberus crew members tried to get to their feet.

"Garrus, you alright?" Shepard asked, helping the Turian to his feet.

"I think I felt better when I got my face shot off," he groaned.

"Good to know you still got your sense of humor."

"Any time, Shepard."

"EDI, status report."

"The Normandy is in poor shape," the AI replied. "We lost one-third of our emergency fuel cells in the crash due to secondary explosions. There are a plethora of ruptured bulkheads, port windows, as well as various ruptures in the hull. Structural stability is battered, but sound. No debilitating damage detected, although I'm still running checks."

"Are we leaking atmosphere?"

"Yes, but I'm not reading any signs of decompression from crew vital signs," EDI replied. "It appears as though this planet has a breathable atmosphere."

"Well, at least we got a little lucky," Shepard said. "Injuries?"

"I'm not reading any fatalities from crew vitals."

"For a crash, that wasn't so bad," Garrus chuckled.

"EDI, send an SOS. I want to be found as soon as possible."

"That might be a problem, Shepard," EDI said. "I'm not reading any comm traffic on any channel."

"We probably lost our communication array in the crash," Garrus said.

"No, we did not. Cerberus built the Normandy with redundant systems, namely communications. The system is intact and fully functioning; however, I'm not getting any reading from Alliance, Citadel or Cerberus networks. I'm not even picking up a mass effect field from a relay."

"We got transported to a system without another mass relay? Isn't that impossible?" Garrus said.

"Legion," Shepard called, heading to the AI core. "Legion, you there?"

"Affirmative, Shepard-Commander," Legion said, leaving the med bay. "We are mostly undamaged."

"Can you hear anything from the Geth comm-buoys?"

Legion paused, the metal phalanges in his head rising.

"Negative, Shepard-Commander," it finally replied. "We are receiving no signal at all."

"Is that really a surprise?" Miranda said. "The Geth can't have comm-buoys everywhere in the galaxy."

"While that is true, we do have numerous buoys in every system with a mass effect relay," Legion said. "No matter where we go in civilized space, and even a vast proportion of uncivilized space, we are constantly in communication with other Geth. Here, we are not."

"Add that with the fact that we just came out of a jump without a mass relay, and we're up shit's creek," Shepard said, gritting her teeth. She keyed her omni-tool to read across the ship. "This is the Commander. As you can tell, we've made planet fall. I want the injured taken care of. All able-bodied report to the engineering bay. I want to get the engine back up and running as soon as possible. Grunt, Garrus, Samara and Thane, report to the launch bay. We're going to run reconnaissance of this planet."

* * *

><p>"Maker, what have we done?" Bethany sobbed. "Look at Kirkwall!"<p>

Hawke risked another look back. The city was engulfed in flames, and he could still hear the screams and ringing of steel, even as they began the climb to Sundermount.

"What did you do, Anders? They're still slaughtering mages!"

"It was going to happen sooner or later," Anders said, his voice cracking. "I know what I did was wrong, but I will gladly have it on my head if we can change the Chantry."

"You butcher!"

"How could you so easily kill your fellow mages?" Aveline demanded.

"Please! I know what I did killed many mages, but if I could change things for mages the world over, it would be worth it."

"Blondie, I know you want to make things better," Varric said, "but this is just insane!"

"Quiet! Everyone!" Hawke said. "Now is not the time to point fingers. We need to escape the Templars before they find us. We're almost at Sundermount, and we can't stop to fight now."

"Maybe that was a sign, something from the Creators," Merril whispered.

"What is, kitten?" Isabella asked.

"The falling star. Maybe they were marking our way," Merril replied. "It fell just at the other side of Sundermount."

"Sign or not, that looks like a good place to start heading," Hawke said. "Let's make camp for the night, get our rest. Tomorrow we cross Sundermount."

* * *

><p>"This is quite a picturesque planet," Samara said. "Plenty of plant life, cliffs and a shore to one side, and a beautiful mountain on the other."<p>

"Plenty of good places for an ambush, too," Grunt added. "And we're on the low ground. Snipers will make quick work of us."

"He's right," Thane said. "If we can reach the summit of the mountain, we'll have a good view of the area."

"I don't exactly think we can make that day trip," Shepard said, looking up at the mountain. "Right now, as long as we don't have any slavers or pirates on us, this should do."

A shot rang out, and the entire group was instantly alert.

"Contact? Anyone?" Shepard said, sweeping the area with her rifle.

"I got no eyes on targets," Garrus said.

"I see nothing," Samara added.

"Calm down," Grunt said, walking to a bush. He reached in a pulled out a large rabbit-like creature with most of its head blown off. "Just bagged us lunch."

"Nice shot, but this isn't the time for hunting," Garrus said.

"Of course it is," Grunt said. "We take it back to the ship, cook it, and see if we can eat it."

"He's got a point," Thane said. "We might be stuck on this planet for quite some time. We should see if we can eat the food or not."

"I'd hate to end up like those people on the Aeia," Shepard said. She shivered. "Forgetting my name and how a door works...not my idea of fun."

"At least this thing smells edible," Grunt said, sniffing his kill.

"Quiet! Anyone else hear that?" Thane said, bringing his rifle to the ready.

"Hear what?" Samara asked.

"Shh!"

Shepard strained, but all she could hear was the sea crashing on the shore.

"What happened to the birds?" Garrus asked. "They used to be chirping."

"Everyone, fall in," Shepard said. "Find cover and get ready for contact."

The group drifted closer together, Grunt at point. Slowly, a sound of metal on metal echoed along the coast.

"Is that what you heard?" Grunt asked.

"That's exactly it," Thane said. "I think I hear voices, too."

"What did you hear?" A voice said, drifting from further up the coast. Shepard and her group fell silent.

"Some kind of explosion."

"Think that could be the Champion?"

"They speak English?" Shepard muttered.

"Whatever it is their speaking, our translators are picking it up," Garrus said.

A group of men rounded a bend. They looked human, and were dressed as if they were medieval knights, wearing plate armor, chain mail, and carrying swords and shields. A blazing sword was imprinted on their armor, and crimson robes fell from their waste.

"By the Maker, what are those things?" One yelled.

"Abominations! Attack them!"

"Wait, hold on!" Shepard said, holding her hand up. "We're not enemies!"

The mysterious humanoids ignored her, charging forward and yelling a battle cry. Grunt wasted no time bellowing back and meeting their charge.

"Grunt! Hold on!"

Grunt blasted one mysterious man, the Claymore shotgun chewing through his armor like it was paper. He fell to the ground in two parts. The other men ignored the loss of their comrade and attacked Grunt, their swords bouncing off his personal shield.

"Weaklings," Grunt yelled, kicking another man across the battlefield.

"Fuck," Shepard hissed. "Take them down, but leave one alive."

The group opened fire on the mysterious men, their shots piercing metal shields and armor.

"Fall together!" The attackers fell into a rough order. Grunt killed another one, only to have his spot replaced. "Dispel the beast!"

A strange blue light pulsed from the attackers, engulfing Grunt and overloading his shields. He picked up one of the attackers and broke him in half. One attacker brought his sword down, and it bit into the krogan's exposed arm, drawing blood.

"Samara, help him," Shepard said.

Samara focused, and threw a biotic pulse at two of the men. The ball of energy hit them and threw them back.

"You fight like you were children!" Grunt yelled, pulling the sword out of his arm. Another soldier yelled, hefting a giant battle ax, and almost brought it down on Grunt when his head exploded.

"Watch yourself," Garrus yelled.

"Attack the woman! She's the blood mage!" One of the men yelled.

An arrow hissed by Shepard, close enough to glance off her shields. Three of the attackers had bows.

"Garrus, Thane, take them out," she yelled. The archers were quickly killed. "That one, right there! Take him alive!"

Grunt killed another attacker, leaving one left. The last man held his shield high, slowly backing into a corner or rocks.

"Stand down! All of you!" Shepard ordered, pushing her way to the front. "It's okay. We mean no harm. See?"

Shepard set down her assault rifle and held her hands up.

"We just want to know where we are," she said. "We don't want to hurt you. We just want to talk."

"I will never be taken by a blood mage and her abominations," the man hissed. He pulled a flask out of his pouch and threw it on the ground. It exploded, engulfing him in flames. He screamed as he slowly burned to death.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"So the planet is inhabited, and the native population appears to be humans that are living in the medieval period of history," Miranda said. "This sounds very fantasy to me."

"I agree. Very strange people," Mordin said, pacing the briefing room. "Also getting very strange energy readings from planet. Curious."

"We're all getting those readings," Tali added. "It's almost as if everything here had some kind of biotic field surrounding it."

"Impossible," Legion said. "Biotic abilities are possible only because of Element Zero exposure, nodes that are implanted. Living tissue cannot create such fields at will."

"Listen, tin man, I know what a biotic field feels like," Jack said, her head bandaged. "When I say that rabbit that Grunt killed was a biotic, I mean it."

"But there is no reading of Element Zero emanating from the planet," Legion insisted.

"Correct, but there are also a plethora of Element Zero _like_ readings," Mordin said. "Could there be a different kind of Element Zero? Possible, but extremely unlikely. Chances too slim that we are the only ones to find such readings."

"We're getting off-track," Shepard said. "Mordin, did you and Dr. Chakwas find anything unusual with the body we brought back?"

"Plenty," Mordin said. "Body was not just humanoid, but actual human. Homo Sapien. Identical in DNA to every human on board."

"But this can't be some kind of lost human colony," Jacob said. "Why regress to medieval technology when you can travel the stars?"

"Religious fanaticism, technophobia, misplaced nostalgia, unknown," Mordin said. "All very possible, but all very unlikely as well. If technophobe, should at least know what a gun is and would not charge a gun. If nostalgic, should _still_ know what a gun is, and would not charge a gun. Most likely group would be religious fanatics, which makes sense if they called the non-humans 'abominations.'"

"But that's still not taking into account all of the strange Element Zero readings we're getting," Tali said. "Frankly, I'm more concerned about that. Maybe we can use it to replace the eezo we lost."

"Tali's right," Jacob said. "We should focus on getting the Normandy up and running. Then we can get off this rock."

"Sounds good to me," Shepard said. "Tali, are things getting straightened out in engineering?"

"Yes. We were able to get the reactor core back up and running," Tali said. "We've got electricity, but we lost about half the available Element Zero in the crash. We won't be able to generate mass effect field powerful enough to move the Normandy."

"Well, that's just great," Shepard said. "We'll worry about that later. Right now, we have to make sure that we're nice and hidden. I don't want any other angry natives attacking us. Tali, get Kasumi and see if you two can come up with some kind of way to cloak the Normandy. "

"Got it."

"Jacob, how are we on ammo?"

"Not good, Commander. We lost about two-thirds of our ammo stores in secondary explosions during the crash," Jacob replied. "We're sitting at about one hundred thermal clips."

"Can you find a way to reuse old thermal clips?"

"Doubtful. Those things are made to be expendable, Commander. At most, we can recycle them into scrap metal, but I doubt we have the capacity to do that."

"Shit. We need that ammo, especially if the locals get restless. Get Zaeed and Mordin to help you recycle used clips. I don't care if this is a waste of time, we need every available round."

"Sure thing, Commander."

"Garrus, Jack and Grunt, go around the ship and collect thermal mags. We're gonna have to limit ammo usage until we can find a way to get more. Everyone will now carry two thermal mags on their person. Drag an ammo crate up to the exit hatch and store the rest of them there."

"Sure thing, boss lady," Jack said.

"As for rules of engagement, no one shoots unless fired upon. All non-humans, try to stay inside the ship as much as possible. They might not attack us if they see aliens."

"Sounds like a good idea," Tali nodded.

"Thane, you're on watch for locals. Get on top of the Normandy and warn us if more people are on their way."

"Understood, Shepard."

"Garrus and Legion, join him when you're done. The rest of you help clean up the Normandy or help Dr. Chakwas with the injured. If anything comes up, let me know."

* * *

><p>"This is a Templar camp. But where did they go?" Aveline said. "It's not like them to leave a camp completely unattended."<p>

"How did the Templars even get this far up Sundermount anyways? We should have a day's head start on them," Isabella added.

"Maybe they traveled throughout the night," Hawke said. "It doesn't matter. Scavenge the camp and take what is necessary. I want to leave as soon as possible."

"Well, you're right about one thing," Varric said, walking over. "The Templars are looking for us. Look at these documents. Warrants for our arrest and executions, preferably on sight."

"Anything else you found in the camp?" Hawke asked.

"Nothing, aside from some half-finished account of the Knight-Commander's final moments. These Templars really don't like you, Hawke."

"I wonder why."

"Hawke! I found their trail," Merril said, walking up. "It looks like they're leading further away from Kirkwall."

"Any trails coming back to the camp?"

"No, just leading away, towards the coast."

"Tracks leading away, but not coming back," Hawke said, pacing. "That means they're either still out there, or something killed them." He paused, considering their options. "Alright, let's follow them."

"Hawke, are you crazy?" Varric said. "We need to run from the Templars, not look for them!"

"We need to take out this Templar patrol if we want to have any chance of running," Hawke said. "They already beat us to Sundermount, and they might beat us to the next city. If we run into the patrol here, we stop them from spreading word of what happened in Kirkwall. That should buy us a few more days at the very least."

"I think you got hit a little too hard back there," Isabella said. "Maker, why don't I just go back there and get my ship? Then we can sail as far away as we want."

"Everyone knows you work with me. You're guilty by association."

"Oh, this is a fine and proper mess."

"If you want to find the Templars, I guess I'll go with you," Merril slowly said.

"And I won't let you run off and get yourself killed," Aveline added.

"I've always been with you, brother."

"Thank you, everyone. Now grab what you can, and let's get moving."

* * *

><p>"Commander, he's waking up," Dr. Chakwas said.<p>

Joker groaned.

"How you holding up?" Shepard asked.

"Oh God, what the hell happened?" Joker asked.

"We got sucked up into some kind of mass relay jump, and we crash landed on a planet," Shepard said.

"Then why does it feel like the world stuck me in a paint mixer?"

"We got tossed around pretty bad."

"Jeff, please, you need to stay still," Dr. Chakwas said, putting a hand on Joker's shoulder. "You broke too many bones to be moving."

"Oh, shit."

"We put you on painkillers and medi-gel. You should be fine for the time."

"Thanks, doctor."

"_Shepard, we have incoming locals," _Thane said over Shepard's omni-tool. _"A party of seven."_

"Roger, Thane," Shepard said. "Garrus, Legion, drop what you're doing and back up Thane. Grunt, Samara, Zaeed, Miranda and Jacob, meet me at the airlock."

"_What's the plan, Commander?" _Jacob asked on the comm.

"We're going to see if we can talk them into leaving. You and Miranda will be with me. Grunt, Samara and Zaeed, stay out of sight and get ready to provide covering fire."

* * *

><p>"You're sure this is the way they were headed, kitten?" Isabella asked.<p>

"This is where there tracks are leading," Merril replied. "Right to the coast."

"You mean the cliffs," Isabella replied. "Did the Templars think we'd swim for it?"

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Anders said.

"As cliché as that is, Blondie's right, this feels strange," Varric said.

"Anders, do you feel that?" Bethany asked.

"That strange feeling, like I'm close to a lot of lyrium?"

"I'm getting it, too," Merril said. "Whatever it is, it must be around that bend."

"Alright, everyone get behind me," Hawke said, hoisting his shield. "It might be a Templar trap. Aveline, you're with me."

"Already there, Hawke," she replied.

Varric loaded his crossbow Bianca as the group slowly moved around the bend. Standing in front of them were three humans, two women and one men. The lead woman had pretty brown-red hair and wore strange black armor with red accents. The woman standing by her was shapely, and wore a tight black suit that was made from some kind of reflective fabric. The black man wore strange, black armor with yellow accents.

"Hello," the woman called out, waving her hand.

* * *

><p>Just as Thane said, there were seven of them. A man and a woman lead the group, crouching behind shields. The man seemed handsome enough, black hair and rough face and well-trimmed beard. The woman seemed tough, with a very proud jaw. Behind them were a cast of characters, one blond haired man, a thin, black haired woman, a busty brown haired woman, an even bustier, almost scantily clad black haired woman, and a very short man with an enormous wooden crossbow.<p>

The lead man and woman both had swords and shields, while two of the woman had wooden staffs, the busty woman two wicked looking daggers, and the blond man also carried a staff.

"_Shepard-Commander, picking up biotic readings from three of the natives," _Legion said in her earpiece.

"Hello," Shepard called again, waving.

"Hello," the lead man cautiously called back.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Shepard said.

"Sorry?" The man said.

"My friends and I require our privacy," Shepard said. "Please, for your safety, turn around."

* * *

><p>"Well, I'm sorry to say that my companions and I need to go this way," Hawke said back. The woman was being shockingly polite. Something rubbed him the wrong way.<p>

"Then you're going to have to find another way around us," the woman said. "This is for your own safety."

She seemed pretty enough. She had the same hair color as Suzanne, before the darkspawn killed her and destroyed Lothering. Hawke shook his head. He knew he should be more drawn to her strange armor than her face. It seemed as if it was a higher quality than his. Hawke didn't like this, especially if it came to combat. He wondered where she kept her sword; she didn't seem to have one anywhere.

"We don't have time to find another route," Aveline said. "We could run into the Templars any second."

* * *

><p>"This isn't working," Jacob whispered.<p>

"I know," Shepard replied. "So much for being civil." She turned back to the group of locals. "You don't want to fight my friends and I. We have blood magic and abominations!"

"Shepard, what are you doing?" Miranda hissed.

"Trying to speak the local language."

* * *

><p>"Blood magic? They're not even mages!" Anders said.<p>

"Are you trying to scare us?" Hawke asked.

"No, I'm warning you," the woman said, sticking with her lie. "Do you want proof?"

"She's not a mage, she can't do anything," Merril said.

"And I'm not seeing any weapons on them, either," Isabella said. "They're not only bluffing, but they're horrible liars, too."

* * *

><p>Shepard raised her hand to her ear.<p>

"Garrus, give them a warning shot."

* * *

><p>A rock exploded not a fathom from Varric's feet.<p>

"Andraste's tits!" He swore, hopping away.

"What was that?" Bethany demanded.

"I don't know, a rock just exploded!" Varric said.

"That wasn't magic, it couldn't be magic," Merril said.

"Take it easy, kitten, we'll protect you," Isabella said.

"Then sound more convincing!"

"I'm telling you, you should walk away," the strange woman said.

"What do we do, Hawke?" Aveline asked.

Hawke gritted his teeth. The strange woman and her companions didn't do anything. No blood magic wrist-slitting, no drawing back on bows, no throwing daggers, nothing. They didn't even have a sword among them. But something about them seemed dangerous, and Hawke didn't like it.

"Alright, everyone back up," he said.

"Are we seriously going to run away?" Isabella asked.

"We don't have time for this," Hawke said. "We need to leave before the Templars find us, and I don't want to fight these people if we don't know how they attacked us."

"Sounds like a good idea," Varric said. "Hate to end up like that rock that blew up."

"If we walk away, you won't shoot us in the back, would you?" Isabella asked the strange woman.

"No, we won't," she replied.

"Alright, let's get out of here," Aveline said.

They started turning around when a company of Templars rounded the bend behind them.

"There he is! It's the Champion!"

"Dammit all," Hawke swore. "Bethany, Merril, get behind me!"

"Attack!"

The Templars charged, swords and shields raised. Hawke pushed past Merril as she began summoning a tempest.

* * *

><p>"<em>Shepard-Commander, biotic readings are rising,"<em> Legion said.

"That's definitely some kind of biotic power. I can feel it," Miranda said.

"Are those the same people that attacked us before?" Shepard asked.

"_Looks that way," _Garrus said.

The two groups met in combat, the men with the flaming sword fighting the bearded man's company. Swords glanced of his shield as the bearded man parried the blows, then returned the favor, his sword swinging over a shield and biting into a man's neck.

Suddenly, a storm appeared just above the fighting group. Lightning arced to the ground, hitting men with the flaming sword and sending them sprawling. But for every man they knocked down, another seemed to replace him.

"_Orders?" _Thane asked.

Shepard ground her teeth, her mind turning over ideas.

"Miranda, Jacob, you're with me," she said. "We're going to help that man."

"What? Why?" Jacob asked.

"If we save them, we might be able to get some answers from them, namely where we are," Shepard said.

"_Gaining influence with the natives would benefit us," _Legion agreed.

"Okay Shepard, let's kick ass," Jacob said as he cycled his Mattock rifle.

"Snipers, open fire."

* * *

><p>"How many Templars are there?" Isabella yelled. "It's like they appear out of thin air!"<p>

"Hold the line," Aveline yelled, pushing three Templars back. "We must survive!"

"Hawke! What do we do?" Merril said.

"I'm thinking," Hawke growled.

The Templar he was fighting knocked aside his sword with the pummel of his giant hammer. Hawke brought his shield up just in time to avoid being hit, but the blow knocked him to the ground. Hawke scrambled to get to his feet as the Templar raised the hammer. Then his head exploded into bits of skull and gore. His body toppled over like a marionette that had its strings cut.

"In the Maker's name!" Bethany screamed.

There was a larger explosion in the distance, and a line of Templars fell, holes in their chests.

"Where in Andraste's name is that coming from?" Anders said.

More and more explosions rang out, great and small, and more and more Templars fell down, most missing their heads.

"Regroup!" The Templar commander yelled. "It must be blood mag-!"

He was cut short as his neck disappeared. His head and body hit the ground at the same time. A hand pulled at Hawke's shoulder, dragging him to his feet.

"I told you that you didn't want to fight us," the red haired woman said, surrounded by glowing armor.

* * *

><p>The man stared at her tech armor as Shepard pulled him to her feet.<p>

"Now let's get out of here," she said.

Miranda and Jacob slowly advanced on the group, carefully picking their shots. Most of Miranda's light submachine gun shots glanced off of the thick armor, but Jacob's heavy Mattock easily punched through them.

"_I'm running low on ammo," _Garrus said in her ear.

"Everyone form up," Shepard said. "Let's head back to the Normandy."

"Dispel them!"

From the attacking group, a dome of blue light shot out, quickly engulfing Shepard. Her tech armor shorted out, her ears popped and she smelled ozone.

"What the fuck?" She muttered, her inner ear reeling.

"It shorted out my shield," Jacob said, reloading.

"Mine too," Miranda said.

Her omni-tool pulsed as it tried to regenerate her tech armor.

"Fall back to the Normandy," Shepard said. Her nose was bleeding. "Grunt, Zaeed, Samara, get ready to cover us."

Shepard grabbed the man by the shoulder and started leading him and his group back to the Normandy. The attacking men of the flaming sword were right behind them, shields raised in a phalanx, and they slowly advanced.

"_Shepard-Commander, I've exhausted my allotted ammunition,"_ Legion said.

"_I'm out, too," _Thane said.

"Dammit, they're still plenty of them left," Jacob said. "Take this!"

Jacob flung a ball of biotic energy at the attacking men, hitting one and sending him flying. Using her own biotics, Miranda grabbed one, lifted him in the air and slammed him back down onto one of his companions.

"Merril, Bethany, Anders, help them," The man said. The thin woman the brown haired woman and the blonde man began throwing what looked like lightning bolts and fireballs at the men, but the attacks did nothing to stop the attackers.

"_Ready to engage when you are,"_ Zaeed said.

Shepard paused, dropping three more men with her last magazine.

"Retreat to the Normandy," she said, turning to run.

* * *

><p>The woman was yelling at thin air. Hawke wondered if she was mad, but didn't have the opportunity to ask her before she pulled him with her. Soon they were all running backwards, away from the Templars. The Templars cheered and gave chase, breaking their formation. Five more explosions, five more dead Templars. Hawke had to guess there were no more than ten left.<p>

They rounded another boulder, and ran into another man wearing dark yellow armor. Scars adorned his face as hefted a strange weapon. A blue skinned, hairless woman was at the man's side, throwing strange purple-colored magic. But Hawke stopped in his tracks when he saw a Goliath standing in front of him.

Bigger than a Qunari but much smaller than an ogre, the orange-skinned, humped-back Goliath pushed Hawke aside as it walked forward to meet the Templars.

"Grunt! Front and center!" The woman called to the Goliath.

With a roar, the Goliath charged the Templars, who stopped dead in their tracks. It hit them going top speed, sending two of them flying like rag dolls.

"Yea, right on your ass!" It bellowed, breaking another Templar.

"Abomination!" One Templar screamed before being blown in half with a mysterious weapon. The Goliath just laughed as the Templars flailed against him. With the help of the scarred man, blue-skinned woman and the Goliath, the Templars were soon dead.

"Is that it?" The Goliath demanded the dead Templars.

"What in the Maker's name are you people?" Hawke demanded, pushing the woman away. Aveline was at his side, facing the Goliath with her shield.

"Easy, we're on your side," the woman said.

"No, you have to be blood mages! How else would you have an abomination like that!" Isabelle said, pointing at the Goliath. It growled and started walking towards them, but the woman headed it off.

"Grunt, take a break. Head back to the Normandy," she ordered it. Hawke thought it would crush her to a pulp, but it actually listened to her. It slowly plodded off further down the path.

"Hold up a second," the scarred man said, stopping the Goliath. He pulled out a dagger that was lodged in it's exposed shoulder.

"Thought something was tickling me," the Goliath said.

"Let's start at the beginning," the woman said, turning to Hawke. "My name is Shepard. What is yours?"

* * *

><p>The man was scared, Shepard could see that. Every one of his companions looked like they were backed into a corner.<p>

"My name is Hawke," the man tensely replied.

"Nice to meet you, Hawke," Shepard said. She felt like she was a child, introducing herself to a new kid. But she had to start somewhere. "I'm afraid we're all lost, and we need help. Can we do this without fighting?"

Hawke looked at his companions skeptically.

"You've seen how quickly we were able to deal with those men over there," Shepard said, pointing to the corpses. "If we wanted to kill you, we would have done it. But we don't want to kill you, so can we all be friends here?"

"She's got a point, Hawke," the shield woman said. "I don't think we could hurt any of them if we tried."

"Alright," Hawke said, slowly putting his sword away. "Have it your way."

"Thank you," Shepard said. "Now, can you tell me where we are?"

"You're outside of Kirkwall, on the far side of Sundermount," Hawke replied.

"What's 'Kirkwall?'" Shepard asked.

* * *

><p>"You don't know what Kirkwall is?" Hawke asked.<p>

"We're...not from around here," Shepard said.

"I can see that."

"But if you're not from around here, where _are_ you from?" The thin, black haired woman asked.

"Uh," Shepard mumbled. "Jacob? Should we tell them?"

"You're asking me, Commander?"

"We know you're not from the Free Marches, we can tell that," the short man said. "And you are _certainly_ not from Orzammar. Did you just fall from the sky or something?"

"They couldn't have fallen from the sky. They'd be as flat as pancakes once they hit the ground," the thin woman said.

"Actually, that's pretty much what happened," Jacob said.

"You're lying," the shield woman said.

"Anders, did you ever hear of people living in the sky?" Hawke asked.

"They certainly didn't say anything about that in the Circle," the blond man said.

"It's a little more complicated than that," Shepard said. "But that's the main idea of the situation."

"And they just have abominations wandering around in the sky?" The brown haired woman said.

"Grunt and Samara here are not abominations, they're aliens."

"Commander, I don't think it's a good idea to bring up extraterrestrials right now," Samara said.

"An 'alien?'" The busty woman asked. "You mean like an elf, or a dwarf?"

"Dwarfs and elves don't exist," Jacob said.

Hawke and his companions looked at each other in stunned disbelief. Then the short man burst out laughing, dropping his crossbow.

"Don't exist, he says!" He roared.

"Did we say something funny?" Miranda asked.

"Oh, this is too much," he man said, clutching his sides. "Telling a dwarf he doesn't exist!"

"You're a dwarf?" Shepard asked.

"Of course! What did you think I was, a short human?"

"Uh, yea, we kinda did." Shepard couldn't believe that she was looking at a real dwarf, and one that was practically rolling on the ground, laughing at her.

"I bet they don't even think that Daisy is an elf!" The man said, continuing to laugh.

"You must've fell pretty hard to forget a thing like that," Hawke said, chuckling himself.

"You have an elf? An actual elf?" Miranda asked.

"That would be me," the thin woman said, grinning.

"An elf? Pointed ears, live in the woods, live for hundreds of years?"

The thin woman turned her head and pointed to her ears. They were twice as long as a humans, and came to a fine point.

"I don't believe it," Shepard said. "Do you have ogres and magic as well?"

"How else do you think we were able to summon storms?" The elf woman asked.

"I thought that was a strange kind of biotic power," Samara said.

"As for the ogres, be glad you haven't seen one," Hawke said. "Big, fat, ugly, and they smell terrible to boot."

"_Hey Shep,"_ Kasumi said over the comm line. _"Tali and I are pretty sure we got a working holographic projector up and running. We can use it to make it look like the route to the Normandy is blocked off."_

"Finally, some more good news," Shepard said.

"_We…kinda had to tear apart the main deck's holographic readout to make it happen," _Kasumi slowly added. _"__Hope you don't mind," _

"Upsides and downsides. I'll take what I can get," Shepard said. "Bring it out and set it up. Hawke, do you have anywhere to go?"

"Yea, about that," Hawke said. "We kinda killed a Knight-Commander in Kirkwall and are running for our lives from the Templars."

"And these Templars are...?"

"They're the ones who sort-of enforce the law in Kirkwall," Hawke explained. "They mostly guard-"

"Persecute," the blond man interjected.

"_Mistreat_ the mages," Hawke said.

"Why would they want to mistreat these 'mages?'" Jacob asked.

"Because they believe that we commune with demons, become possessed and turn into abominations," the blond man said. It was clear that he had no love for the Templars.

"I take it 'abominations' are a bad thing," Shepard said.

"They're demons who possess your body," the brown haired woman said. "They want to take over the world."

"So they're very bad, then."

"Saying the least," the elf woman said.

"And why did you kill this 'Knight-Commander?'"

"Because she was killing mages!" The blond man said, exploding. "She saw enemies where there were only shadows, and she was squeezing the life out of Kirkwall!"

"She was killing innocent people?"

"And torturing those who she pleased, raiding houses at midnight and imprisoning anyone who sounded like a traitor."

"And you killed this Knight-Commander?"

"Just yesterday, in fact," Hawke said.

"Yesterday?"

"We've been _very _busy."

"Apparently," Shepard said, shrugging. "That's about when we came into town, too. Do I have good timing or what?

"Personally, I don't feel too bad about you killing this 'Knight-Commander.' If you need a place to stay, I guess you can camp outside of our ship."

"Commander, is this really a good idea?" Miranda asked. "If they've killed a high-ranking officer, we'll make enemies with their enemies."

"If what they say is the truth, this Knight-Commander is a tyrant," Samara said. "It would not be wise to make 'friends' with a tyrant, or their subordinates."

"More Justicar code?" Jacob asked.

"No, that is my personal opinion," Samara said. "My code would compel me to hunt and kill this individual."

"Even though we're out of Asari space?" Miranda asked.

"Yes."

"Well, right now, Hawke and his people are the closest thing to friends that we have here," Shepard said. "And I don't like how these Templars are sounding."

"Don't know about you, but they sound like the Gestapo to me," Jacob said.

"But why would this 'Knight-Commander' fear something that doesn't exist? If some of the women here can use this 'magic,' why aren't they turning into monsters?" Miranda asked.

"There isalways a risk of being possessed in the Fade," the elf woman said.

"'The Fade?'"

"It's where we get our magic from."

"Before we get all metaphysical up in here, I say we head back to the Normandy," Shepard said.

"That's your ship?" The busty woman asked.

"Yep."

"Perfect! That means we can sail away from Kirkwall."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but we're kind of grounded for the moment," Shepard said.

"Fooey," the woman pouted.

"You can follow us back to the ship, but you're going to see another alien on the way back, so prepare yourself and try not to attack her."

"You heard the woman; swords and staffs away," Hawke said. "And try not to scream 'abomination.' It might upset them."

Shepard lead the group back towards the Normandy. Soon, they came upon Kasumi and Tali, setting up the improvised hologram projector.

"Hey, Shep," Kasumi said, looking up. "We're almost done here. Are these the new people?"

"Yep. Kasumi, this is Hawke."

"Pleased to meet you, Hawke."

"We'll do introductions later," Tali said. "Let's get this thing up and running before we get attacked again."

"And this is Tali," Shepard continued. "She usually isn't this nervous, but we just crashed here and we're all a little on edge."

"Can't say I blame you," Hawke said, holding his hand out. "It's nice to meet you."

"Why are you wearing a mask?" The elf woman asked.

"Maker, she only has three fingers!" The shield woman said.

* * *

><p>Aveline was right, the woman Hawke was trying to shake hands with only had three fingers, and her legs were almost like talons. Panicking, he jumped back, hand reflexively going to his sword.<p>

"Everyone stay calm," Shepard said, stepping between him and the women, holding her hands out. "I told you that you would meet another alien, and Tali is the one."

"She's an alien? She doesn't seem that different from us," Merrill said nervously.

"Except for her legs. Maker, it looks like they're broken," Anders said.

"Is this what making first contact is like?" The alien Tali asked.

"Be glad we have translators," Samara said. "Try doing all of this with pantomimes."

"Tali, they've never seen a Quarian," Shepard said. "We're going back to square one here. Just play along and be as charming as you always are, and next thing you know, we'll be eating lunch together."

"We all have to start from somewhere, I guess," the alien shrugged. She turned to Hawke. "My name is Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, but you can just call me Tali. I am a Quarian, a human-like alien race. And...I come in peace."

"Bet you've been dying to say that," Shepard chuckled.

"It was all I could come up with," Tali snapped back, sounding very embarrassed.

"How can you see us from under that mask?" Merrill asked. "I don't see any eye holes."

"The mask is more of a visor. It's made from a safety glass-like material..."

"Tali, they don't even have electricity. Hold it on the high tech talk," Shepard said.

"Good point. It's complicated."

"That's enough for me," Isabella said. "Will you stab us in the back?"

"What? No," Tali said.

"Poison our food?" Isabella continued.

"No!"

"Sell us out for a copper or two?"

"Is that your currency?" Tali asked. "I mean, no."

"Right, then we're friends," Isabella said. "Or at least, people who aren't trying to kill each other. Now where's your ship?"

"Hawke, are you sure you want to trust these people?" Aveline asked.

"They saved our lives back there. It's either them or the Templars," Hawke said.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The ship was enormous, easily four times bigger than any ship Hawke had ever seen in Kirkwall. Instead of being made out of wood, it seemed to be made out of pure steel, and was shaped like the head of a trident. People dressed in the same strange clothing as Shepard and her crew climbed all over the ship, carrying pieces of metal to and fro. Occasional geysers of sparks burst from the ship, making it look like mages were crafting an enormous magical weapon.

"This is the Normandy," Shepard said.

"Maker," Isabella gasped. "This thing could never possibly float. What kind of ship is this?"

"It's, uh, a starship," Shepard replied.

"A 'starship?' You sail among the stars?" Merrill asked. "You really do come from the sky."

"Close enough to it," the busty woman with black hair said. "You can set up camp wherever you'd like, although I'd imagine you'd like to stay away from the ship."

"Are you kidding me? I want to see what it's like inside!" Isabella said.

"Commander?" The woman asked.

"You really want to see what it's like inside?" Shepard asked.

"Do I ever!" Isabella said.

"Well...I guess you can. But not today. Don't want our new friends getting culture shock."

"What do you mean, 'culture shock?' I'm not going to keel over and die if I set foot in your ship, will I?"

"No, nothing like that. Culture shock is a term we have to describe the feeling of being introduced to a new culture," Shepard explained. "Once you get used to everything we have here, I'll let you on."

"I'll be sure to get better soon," Isabella swore.

"Attention crew," Shepard called to the working men and women. "This is Hawke and his group of friends. They are our friendly locals, so be nice to them! They'll be staying with us for however long we're grounded. If they ask for anything, help them get it."

"Thank you for the help, but we should only be needing food," Hawke said.

"That's one thing we have a fair supply of," Shepard said. "Not sure you'll like it, though. It's kind of made for our taste."

"So we get to experiment with food," Hawke said. "I could think of a worse."

"Good to see you're taking everything in stride."

"When trouble follows you like a faithful dog, you learn to go with the flow."

"Story of my life," Shepard said.

"Then that's one thing we have in common," Hawke said. "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

"I sure hope so. Right now you're our only friends out here," Shepard said. "I got to make sure our repairs are going smoothly. If you need anything, just shout for us."

* * *

><p>"Thinking of how to tell this story, Varric?" Merrill asked as she stirred the pot of soup.<p>

"People from the sky, ships that sail the stars, and non-demonic abomination-like things that are actually our friends? Daisy, if I start telling this story, they'll throw me in the nuthouse!" Varric said.

"At least this Shepard keeps some good looking men around," Isabella said.

"Maker, can you stop thinking with your legs for one day of your Blighted life?" Aveline demanded.

"And the prig starts her bitching!"

"Ladies! Please! Calm down!" Hawke said. "What has gotten into you two? Just when you started getting along so well."

"By 'getting along,' do you mean not pulling each other's hair?" Anders asked.

Aveline shot Anders a withering look.

"I'm sorry, it's just...I'm worried," she said. "About Donnic."

"I'm sorry we couldn't leave without getting him first," Hawke said.

"No, I'm not blaming you; killing Knight-Commander Meredith, almost being killed by those Templars on the spot, we had to get out of Kirkwall fast. Donnic can take care of himself, and more importantly, the city guard and citizens. I'm just worried that the Templars in Kirkwall might try to torture him to find out where we are."

"We'll find a way to get him. Somehow," Hawke promised.

"Thank you, Hawke. And Isabella? I...didn't mean to yell at you," Aveline said.

"Did you just apologize?" Isabella asked.

"Yes, I did. Are you going to rub that in as well?"

"No, I just never thought I'd see the day when you'd apologize for calling me a whore, that's all," Isabella mused. "Actually, I don't blame you. I'm worried about what's going to happen to my ship as well."

"The one you stole from Castillon?" Merrill asked.

"Yep, the very same one," Isabella said. "All I wanted to do was sail it around, showing it off as the ship I rightfully stole; just rubbing it in his face. Apparently it was too much to ask for."

"And find a crew of good looking men?" Bethany asked.

"Well, well! Look who's man hungry now! The long years in the Circle Tower getting to you?"

"_Gotten_ to me, you mean," Bethany said, blushing slightly. "This has to be the first time I've spent the night outdoors since I was taken in."

"All the better the Chantry and the Circle are gone," Anders said.

"That reminds me," Hawke said, getting up.

"Reminds you of what?"

Winding up, Hawke punched Anders squarely in the nose. The mage fell off the log he was using as a bench, a tangle of limbs.

"_That's_ for blowing up the Chantry, bringing the entire city down on our heads, and risking my sister's life!"

"Hawke!" Merrill gasped.

"No, it was fair," Anders said, trying to get to his feet. His nose was gushing blood. "I know I deserve worse than that."

"Spoken like a truly beaten wife," Isabella spat bitterly.

"I am responsible for countless mages' deaths; I deserve worse than this," Anders said.

"I'm not a fan of hearing Blondie saying he's 'not worth' anything. Too risqué for me. Anyone want to see if they have any space ale on their ship?" Varric said.

"That sounds like a good idea," Isabella asked. "Who should we ask?"

"I'm going to ask that rough man over there, see if he has some good stories to go with those scars," Varric said, pointing to the scarred man. He was walking around the ship, carrying his strange weapon.

"Be my guest. I don't want to be killed asking for a drink," Isabella said.

"I want to ask that strange woman where she's from," Merrill said, pointing to the alien called Tali. She stood by the machine that made 'holograms.' "The designs on her suit look Dalish."

"Well, if Kitten here is going to talk to the strange men, then I am too," Isabella said, standing up. "That black skinned man has practically been calling my name."

"Talk about building international relationships," Hawke said.

"What? It relieves stress and puts everyone in a better mood," Isabella smirked.

"Some things never change," Aveline mused. "Have fun."

"I plan to, darling."

"Well, if everyone seems to be talking to the sky people, I might as well join in," Hawke said. "I got a few questions to ask Shepard. Did anyone see her?"

* * *

><p>"Hey! Hello there!"<p>

Zaeed turned around. The man who claimed he was a dwarf was walking towards him.

"You need something?" He asked.

"Just a couple of things," the man said, walking up. "You're not busy, are you?"

"Busy? More like bored sodding stiff. Guard duty is a bitch."

"That's what all the city guards gripe about. Varric."

"Zaeed."

"Nice to meet you, Zaeed. Strange name for a human."

"Said the dwarf."

"I guess you got a fair point there," Varric chuckled. "You wouldn't have any alcohol on your ship, would you?"

"Aren't you a stereotype," Zaeed laughed. "All the stories I've heard about dwarfs we that they drank like no tomorrow!"

"Stories? Those are facts!"

"And now you come up asking for some booze! What a riot!"

"Nothing like playing up to a stereotype, right? What would be your stereotype? A world-weary man who's seen far too much?"

"What made you guess that?"

"Do I really need to say it?" Varric asked. "You must have some damn good stories with all the scars you've got."

* * *

><p>Tali scanned the holographic projector for the third time.<p>

"_Creator-Tali, there is no irregularity in the projector,"_ Legion said.

"I know there's a problem with the projector," Tali insisted. "It just doesn't sound right."

"_There is a high level of stress in your voice. Are you alright, Creator-Tali?"_

"No, I'm not fine! We're stranded on an unknown planet with no way to get back, and our best defense is a faulty holographic projector!"

"Um...is this a bad time?"

Tali turned around. The elf woman was slowly walking up.

"I mean, if you want to yell at the air some more, please go ahead, don't mind me."

"What? Oh, I'm talking to a friend, I'm not yelling at the air," Tali said. "Legion, I'll call you back."

"Really? You can use magic to talk to people?"

"It's not magic, it's a communication system. Oh, that's right, you don't have very much tech here."

"What's this 'tech' you keep talking about?"

"It means 'technology.' How do I explain it? I guess you can say we can make metal work for us," Tali said.

"How strange. You don't have magic to use?"

"Where I come from, magic is only a bed time story for children."

"You can't use any magic? Not even to light a candle?"

"No, we have machines to do that. They're big, metal...things that can do that," Tali explained. "Do you need help with something?"

"Oh. Um, I was just wondering what the symbols on your suit meant. They look a lot like the symbols of my people."

"Really? They don't mean anything, they're just decoration. But they mean something to you?"

"Well, they _look_ like a symbol or two, but it's just a pattern. Oh, how rude of me, I forgot to tell you my name. I'm Merrill."

"Tali."

* * *

><p>Jacob threw the used thermal clip on the make-shift table.<p>

"Whatever, Mordin. I'm done for the night," he said.

"_But we've just started on the problem. We can't stop now, not when we need ammunition at a time like this,"_ Mordin said.

"You can keep working at it, but I gotta take a break. I've pulled three straight shifts to get the Normandy up to snuff after our suicide mission, and this trans-whatever warp situation isn't helping my sleeping schedule. I need to relax," he said, turning off his omni-tool.

"Is this what you sky people do all the time?" Jacob looked up and saw the busty black haired woman walking towards him. "Talk at your glowey wrist things and fiddle with bits of metal?"

"Usually we get to shoot some things," Jacob chuckled. "You just had to catch us at a bad time."

"I bet," the woman said, leaning on the table. "Crashes are never a clean affair. Everything gets thrown tits up, and you try to get your shit together before someone catches you with your trousers down."

"Sounds like you have experience with that," Jacob said.

"Which part?"

"Hard to say. I don't know you well enough to guess."

"Let's fix that, shall we? Isabella."

"Jacob."

* * *

><p>Hawke walked up to what looked like the front door of the strange ship. A group of uniformed men and women were gathered there, sitting on cartons, eating, or bringing things in and out of the ship.<p>

"Can I help you?" One man asked.

"Yes. I'd like to speak to the Lady Shepard, please," Hawke said. "I'd like to ask her a few questions."

"'The Lady Shepard?'" The man laughed. "Oh, the Commander would get a kick out of that."

"I take it that's not her title," Hawke said, blushing a little.

"Technically her rank is 'Commander,'" the man replied. "But that's a military title, and we're not exactly a military organization. It's complicated." He twisted his wrist and the strange orange/yellow glow enveloped it. "Commander? I've got Captain Hawke here asking for you."

"I'm not a Captain."

"Just a regular old Hawke then."

"_Tell him I'll be down in a minute,"_ Shepard's voice said.

"Just wait a few, she'll be down," the man said, the strange wrist-thing disappearing.

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Make that glowing thing appear and disappear."

The man balked for a second.

"It's easy. You just kinda, you know, flex your fingers and sort of cock your wrist," he said. "Never had to describe it, before. You just get so used to it, you don't realize you're doing it anymore."

"And where does it go?" Hawke asked.

"It doesn't go anywhere. It's actually stored on this computer, er, box, right here," the man said. He pointed to a small purse-sized box attached to his waist. "What you see is just a hologram."

"And that would be..."

"Light," the man replied.

"You're not confusing our locals, are you?" Shepard said, walking out of the ship. Hawke was surprised; she wasn't wearing her armor. Instead, she was wearing a uniform like the ones the other men and women were wearing.

"No ma'am, he asked me first," the man said, snapping a crisp salute.

"Just giving you a hard time, private," Shepard grinned. "You need any help, Hawke?"

"Oh, right," he said, realizing that he was staring at her. "I just wanted to ask you a few questions about our situation right now."

"Sure thing," Shepard said, smiling. "You have any dinner? I'll grab you something before we start."

* * *

><p>"So there we were, stranded in the middle of the Blood Pack camp, krogans all getting ready to kill us, and this dumb son of a bitch decides to be a hero. He leans out to get a shot off, and the sniper blows his head clean off," Zaeed said.<p>

"Bullshit! There must've been something left," Varric laughed.

"I shit you not, he got hit with some kind of anti-material rifle," Zaeed said. "Nothing left but his neck. Blood spewing everywhere, it was a right mess."

"And krogans are like this Grunt we saw today?"

"Exactly the same. Now, Grunt is the biggest fucker you'll ever see, but other krogan aren't nothing to shrug off," Zaeed said.

"So what did you do?"

"We popped some smoke grenades. Couldn't see your hand in front of your face. The krogan just start unloading at us. They thought we would make a run for it in the smoke, but with that amount of fire all we could do was hunker down, sat it out.

"For three bloody minutes we sat there, the krogan shooting at nothing. Longest three minutes of your life, being pinned down under fire, especially that fire. Couldn't scratch your ass without having a few fingers getting shot off.

"Once the smoke started clearing, they stopped shooting. Now, I knew that they'd been firing nonstop for the past three minutes, so I take a gamble and guess that they're out of ammunition. So I lean up over the crate and start shifting heads. The bastards thought they were invincible! Didn't even try to hide, they just kept standing up and falling down! By then I got enough of their attention that they start walking away from our ship, so I hunker down and push my men forward. The krogan kept shooting at where we were, and we just snuck away."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. Made it to the ship in record time. Now, once we turned the engines on, we get their attention. But we're already in the ship, and they couldn't hurt us. We figure that the only way the krogan could stop us is if they bomb their own camp."

"Did they?"

"The Blood Pack always did like their members incredibly goddamn stupid."

"I don't believe it!" Varric laughed. "They blew up their own camp?"

"Blew it sky high. Saved us the trouble of blowing it up ourselves. Got our payment and sold the bombs for a nice little bonus," Zaeed said.

"This is rich! Please tell me you got more!"

"What do you think? I'm actually curious to see what kind of stories you've gotten. You dwarfs are supposed to live a long life, aren't you?"

"That we do. And I got the perfect story for you. Should complement the one you just told."

"Hold on, I'm going to call Chambers out here. She _loves_ a good story."

"See if she can bring back a few pints, too."

* * *

><p>"And you just left?" Merrill said.<p>

"We had to. We lost the war to the Geth. If we stayed on our planet, they would have killed us all," Tali said.

"That's so sad. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose a planet. And you still haven't gotten it back yet?"

"No, never. It's been hundreds of years since we walked on our own planet. Staying in space for so long changed us. That's why we have to wear these suits; it's far too easy for us to get sick."

"You are just like the Dalish," Merrill said sadly.

"Is that what your people call themselves?" Tali asked.

"Yes. Dalish elves are the descendants of the ancient elven empire. It stretched from coast to coast, all across the world," Merrill began. "We were proud, and we were immortal. The only time we actually had to die is if we willed it. From what my Keeper told me, rest her soul, the elves would craft the most exquisite magical items. We had...mirrors...that would let you talk to someone all the way across the world."

"That sounds incredible," Tali said. "I'm scared to ask what happened."

Merrill hung her head. The small fire she built was burning bright, but she still added another stick.

"The humans happened," she said. "We don't know where they came, but they brought tainted magic and dark desires with them. When they were around, time seemed to catch up with the elves. They aged and died. And the humans wanted what we had. They waged war on my ancestors, destroying home after home until the Dales were all that was left.

"Like the Quarians, we left. We abandoned all we had to live in whatever freedom we could find. The elves that stayed behind were conquered and became the city elves. The humans made them stay in alienages, and made them their slaves. Now we're just a shadow of our former selves."

"And you are not angry at the humans?" Tali asked.

"No, why should I be?"

"They took your homes, destroyed your family!"

"How can you travel with this Legion if he's one of the Geth who took your planet from you?" Merrill asked.

Tali balked for a second.

"I'm not sure," she said slowly. "I didn't like it when Shepard saved him, no, it. And I started to hate her when she activated Legion. After all they did to my people, and to Shepard, too. We spend so much time fighting them, how could we work with one?

"I don't know why I don't hate Legion. I should, but I don't. He helped us out so many times, and had even more chances to kill us, but didn't. But he does make a fair point. We made the Geth to be our slaves. I find it hard to hate them for wanting to be free."

"No one should ever be a slave," Merrill agreed. "If only Fenris was here. He'd be so glad I said that."

"Who is Fenris?"

"He was a friend of ours," Merrill said. "An elf, like me. But he wasn't a Dale. He was a city elf that was a slave to a mage. He hated magic, almost as much as he hated slavery."

"What happened to him? Why isn't he here?"

"It really is all Anders fault. Remember when I told you about the mages and the Circle?"

"The Circle wanted to control all mages, right?" Tali asked.

"Yes, and the Templars wanted to kill all the mages, or make them Tranquil. Anders blew up the Chantry, the one thing keeping the peace. So the Templars went crazy, with Meredith planning to kill all the mages. Hawke didn't want the mages to be killed, his sister being one. Fenris didn't like Hawke helping the mages, so he turned on us. We had to fight him. Hawke didn't want to kill Fenris, but he gave Hawke no choice."

"I'm sorry. That must've been hard for you to deal with," Tali said.

"I liked Fenris. He was grumpy, and angry, and hard to deal with, but once he started warming up to us, he was alright. Still grumpy and angry, but he was bearable. I hate to see elves die."

* * *

><p>"Now do you believe me?" Isabella asked, putting the bottle down.<p>

"Alright, so I can see the booze drinking, sword fighting part of you, but I still can't picture you as a pirate," Jacob said, refilling his own glass.

"This is some good stuff you got here," Isabella said, looking at the bottle. "Let me guess: it's the fact that I'm a woman?"

"Not so much that..."

"Is it because I'm so pretty?" Isabella grinned.

"That, too," Jacob admitted. "We've ran into pirates before. Usually they're shipping drugs or slaves. That's why I can't picture you as a pirate."

"Your pirates only sell drugs and slaves? What about pillaging ships?" Isabella asked.

"Most ships worth raiding are protected by warships," Jacob said.

"Ugh, if piracy only comes to drugs or slaves, I think I'll go legit," Isabella said. "Had to ships slaves once. Killed the men who wanted to sell them and freed them."

"That's a very good thing you did there," Jacob said, taking a drink.

"I think it had to be one of the dumbest mistakes I ever did," Isabella said. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I freed those slaves, but what happened afterwards was such a pain in the ass."

"What happened?"

"Well, like it or not, those slaves had a high price on them," Isabella said. "Castillon, the man who owned them, rightly wanted his money back from me. I didn't have that kind of money, so to make up for it, he had me steal a Qunari artifact."

"And Qunari are...?"

"Big, ash-skinned horned people. Very serious. Out of all the years I've seen Qunari, the only time I saw them show any emotion was anger. Anyways, I stole this artifact for him to sell, when a Qunari dreadnaught starts chasing me. To get rid of them, I sailed into a storm. We both get shipwrecked at Kirkwall for the next few years."

"A few years? I'd think that Castillon would get pissed it took you that long to steal something," Jacob said.

"Er, yea. Well, you see, in the wreck, I kind of lost the artifact," Isabella said, blushing.

"You lost this ancient artifact? How did you do that?"

"I told you, wrecks are nasty affairs," Isabella shot back. "I barely got away with my life. So for the entire time I'm in Kirkwall, I'm tracking down this artifact. Meanwhile, the entire city gets all kinds of uptight with the Qunari."

"So there's still racism here."

"I don't know, I've never given two shits about Qunari, unless they're trying to kill me. Most people hate them because they don't believe in the same blighted religion. Anyways, for the entire time we're there, people are getting more and more put off with the Qunari, eventually trying to set them up to seem like bad guys and killers. Finally, after a few years, the Qunari strike back."

"Sounds like a war broke out."

"It kind of did. The Qunari kind of struck first by seizing power of the city."

"How can you 'kind of' strike first?"

"Until then, people would only assassinate an odd Qunari, or try to frame them for some kind of crime. The Qunari took real military action. Just hours before they took over the city, I found the relic, stole it back, and caught the first caravan out of Kirkwall."

"You skipped town?"

"Well, for a little bit. Damn that Hawke, saving my hide and helping me out. It felt like I owed him more than I was giving him. I turned around and went back to return the artifiact."

"Sounds like all his good deeds were rubbing off on you."

"They must be. When I got back, the entire city had fallen to the Qunari. I snuck through the city, trying to find Hawke."

"In all that chaos?"

"Well, after following him for a few years, I got to know him," Isabella said. "Hawke always goes for the heart of the problem, and that problem would be the Arishok, the leader of the Qunari. They weren't at the compound given to the Qunari, so I snuck to the Viscount's chambers, the man who runs the city. Sure enough, Hawke was there, as well as the Arishok and his bodyguards."

"I take it they weren't too kind to see you there."

"Who, Hawke for the Qunari?"

"Both."

"I thought so, too," Isabella laughed, "but it turns out Hawke is a more forgiving than I thought he would be. The Arishok wasn't, though."

"If he was stuck there for years, looking for that artifact, I'd imagine he'd be," Jacob said. "Did he try to put you in jail or something?"

"More than that, they wanted to take me back with them. Probably torture me or turn me into some kind of brainless, drooling laborer," Isabella said. "But Hawke challenged the Arishok to single combat, with me as the trophy."

"Sorry, he what?"

"The Arishok wanted to take me with him, and Hawke didn't want that. So they dueled for my fate. Oh, you should have seen it! The Arishok was a huge blighter, but Hawke just wouldn't give up! Even when the Arishok broke his shield, Hawke still pressed on! And when he won, oh, it was the best!"

"I'll bet. You got to live another day."

"You're telling me. After that, the Qunari left as they had promised, and that was that," Isabella said.

"That's one hell of a story," Jacob said.

"It isn't. You should at least let Varric tell it to you."

* * *

><p>"This is some good stew. What's it called?" Hawke asked.<p>

"Chili. It's a classical Earth recipe," Shepard said.

"'Chili?' We have a similar stew we make. It's called 'mystery meat.'"

"You're joking!"

"I'm not."

"People just cook up a stew and fill it with whatever meat they find lying around?" Shepard asked.

"Just about. Of course, this stew is much better, with its spices and vegetables, but it's not that far off from the good old 'guess the meat of the day.'"

"I know I'm in a different world and all, but how do you eat something when you don't know what kind of meat is in it?"

"When you're trying to grab some food before your house is destroyed by an army, it's easy to forget where something came from," Hawke said.

"You were in a war?" Shepard asked.

"More like a slaughter," Hawke replied, finishing his food. "Kirkwall isn't my home city, I'm from a city called Lothering far in the south, in a country called Fereldan. About six years ago or so, there was a Blight, and my family and I had to run for our lives."

"What's a 'Blight?'"

"A Blight is when a dragon is corrupted by the Taint of the darkspawn, becomes an Archdemon, and leads the darkspawn horde above ground to destroy everything."

"I've heard about these darkspawn a couple times now. What are they?"

"They're...human-like, I guess," Hawke stammered. "Maker, how do I describe them? The Chantry says they're the descendants of the people who tried to meet the Maker in the Fade, but their sin corrupted them, turning them into monsters. But that really doesn't do much justice to them. They're like regular people, only completely feral, have evil looking teeth, and have poisoned blood."

"Their blood is toxic?"

"They carry the Taint in their blood," Hawke explained. "If you get poisoned by the Taint, like through a wound or getting blood squirted in your eye, you get the Taint. You either die slowly from it, or you turn into a darkspawn."

"That's terrible. Is there any cure?"

"The Grey Wardens might have a cure, but you'll have to ask Anders about that, he's a Grey Warden. The only cure I know of is a mercy killing."

Shepard shifted in her seat.

"Is it really that bad?" She quietly asked.

"It's worse," Hawke said. "Aveline's late husband was infected with the Taint. He asked for a quick death before a long, painful one. He begged her to be the one, and Aveline accepted it. She drove a blade into his chest."

"Dear God. No one should have to kill a friend or a loved one," Shepard said.

"I agree. Aveline has to be one of the strongest people I know; she barely batted an eye when her husband asked for death. Somehow, we all made it through, and got to Kirkwall. Aveline became a guard, Bethany and I joined a mercenary group for a year, and our mother was taken in by our uncle."

"Was Aveline okay? She didn't try to do anything...rash, did she?"

"Like take her own life? No, Aveline is stronger than that."

Shepard stiffened.

"Is everything alright?" Hawke asked.

"How dare you?" Shepard spat. "You have no idea what it's like to go through something as terrible as that."

"I don't know what it's like?" Hawke said. "Have I offended you?"

"Yes, you've done a pretty good job pissing me off," Shepard said.

"I apologize, I didn't mean to offend you," Hawke said. "And I do have an idea of what it's like to lose someone. I lost my brother Carver to the darkspawn when we were trying to flee."

"Your brother?"

"That's just from the darkspawn. Just recently, my mother was killed by an insane killer."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thank you. If you don't mind, can I ask what made you so offended?"

"No, Hawke, you can't ask. That's very personal to me," Shepard said.

"I understand," Hawke said, playing with his empty bowel. "Can I at least thank you for all the help you've given us? Like saving our lives and giving us a place to stay?"

"That you can do."

* * *

><p>"There were how many pirates?" Yeoman Kelly asked.<p>

"Fifteen. All of them armed to the teeth and mean looking like Zaeed over here," Varric said, finishing his beer.

"Bollocks," Zaeed said. "Fighting fifteen pirates? That's a one-way ticket to the afterlife."

"That may be true in your world, but not in ours," Varric said. "So as I was saying, we get out of the cave on the Wounded Coast with the kidnapped girl, and there in the moonlight are fifteen pirates. They're a real mean bunch, scars you can see from a mile away, carrying big, scary looking weapons. Broadswords that are the size of a human kid, chipped and battered from long years of hacking off limbs, maces stained rust brown from countless skull bashed open, and long, needle-like daggers with worn blood grooves."

"Oh my," Kelly gasped.

"I had a few choicer words to say about the matter, but Hawke didn't. He just turned to me and said,

"'Well Varric, this is a good mess we've gotten into.'

"'A good mess?' I say. 'Hawke, we've gonna die! What were we thinking, rescuing the magistrate's daughter from a band like this?'

"'What's done is done,' Hawke said. 'Protect the girl, I'll take care of the pirates.' Before I can say anything, Hawke charges into the pirates, bellowing like an ogre! He knocks down three of them before one pirate with a hammer brings him to a halt. He's about to bash Hawke's head open when his blade shoots out, a blur in the moonlight, and the pirate is staggering off, his arms severed at the elbow.

"The pirates are charging him, but Hawke just keeps on fighting. His blade is arcing over raised shields, sneaking past parried blows, and finding pirate flesh with each swing. When a pirate tries to slip past him, Hawke bashes his head open with his shield! He took a few blows in the side when that happened, but it doesn't seem to slow him down. In fact, each time he gets hit, Hawke seems to fight harder and harder!

"I'm staring at this, wondering if my friend can make it out of there alive. I could only get a shot or two off, but I can't do much because the pirates are too close to Hawke; if I miss, I could very well shoot my own friend."

"How did it end?" Kelly asked.

"'How did it end?' The man's sitting not ten meters away from us!" Zaeed said.

"It ended just as quickly as it started," Varric said, ignoring Zaeed. "Hawke was the only one left standing. He was bleeding from ten different wounds, but he didn't seem the least bit hurt. So we gather up the girl and leave before more kidnappers show up. The morning was breaking when we got back from the Wounded Coast, but when we get to the girl's home, we see that her parents hadn't slept a wink.

"They were overjoyed when we brought their girl home safe and sound. The magistrate wanted to pay us her weight in gold, but Hawke only took a few sovereigns for himself and his family. I took a few more coin than he did, but that's because I'm a lesser man."

"Let me guess: you rescued her from her kidnappers, then you rescued her from her virginity," Zaeed said.

"Zaeed, how could you! Hawke and Varric risked their lives to save that poor girl!" Kelly said.

"I can't pull the wool over your eyes, can I?" Varric chuckled.

"What do you mean, 'pull the wool over his eyes?'" Kelly asked.

"It means the dwarf was lying to us," Zaeed said.

"All that was a lie?" Kelly said.

"It's just as I told Hawke, doll," Varric said. "To make a good hero, you take one part down to earth, one part noble, two parts crazy fool, and then you sprinkle liberally with wild falsehoods. Next you know, you've got yourself a hero. Not that all my stories are lies; most good stories are based on real happenings."

"Then why tell stories at all if you're just going to lie through your teeth?" Zaeed asked.

"The way I see it, history is a big book of tales; all the ones that stuck," Varric said. "I want my stories to get in there one day."

* * *

><p>"You're an alien, a different race than us. How can we understand each other so well?" Merrill asked.<p>

"My suit has a built-in translator," Tali said. "It's translating your language into mine, as well as my language into yours."

"And that doesn't strike you as magical?"

"While I like your theory that our machines manipulate magic, I can assure you that there is no magic where we come from," Tali said.

"And you keep saying that our world has this 'science' in it, but that's the realm of magic," Merrill said. "There are things in the world that just need magic to exist."

"I can say the same thing about how a world needs dark matter to exist," Tali said.

"You mean mater that's in the darkness?"

"No, it means it's-right, no big explanations. It's complicated."

"But how can you say something exists if you can't see it?" Merrill asked.

"Have you heard of the theory of gravity?"

"What's gravity?"

"Gravity is the force that pulls things down," Tali said. "If I were to throw this rock up, gravity will pull it down."

"That's just the rock falling," Merrill said.

"But that's gravity working on the rock. You can't see gravity, but it affects you."

"I think my brain is starting to hurt," Merrill said. "All this talk about things that don't exist is exhausting."

"Once you start learning about things, it gets better," Tali promised.

"I think I'll leave the invisible-force-things to you," Merrill said. "I'll stick to my magic."

"How does magic even work here?" Tali asked.

"Well, if you're born being touched by magic, you can use magic," Merrill said. "I don't think anyone knows why magic happens, it just does. We all accept it, and use it as best as we can."

"Then how do you use it? Is it like using a muscle to pick up a weight?"

"Yes, it's exactly like that," Merrill said. "It takes some concentrating, but it's easy to do. See?"

Merrill opened her hand, creating a ball of lightening.

"May I?" Tali asked, holding up her omni-tool covered hand.

"I wouldn't touch it if I were you," Merrill said.

"It's not like that, I just want to get some readings," Tali said, waving her omni-tool by the small ball of electricity. "Fascinating. This is pure electricity you're creating. No static generators, no external or internal batteries, no laser-heated plasma, nothing."

"It's like magic, right?" Merrill asked, smiling.

"I would say so," Tali chuckled, reading the readings. "And here's the spike in Element Zero, just like a normal biotic effect. How strange."

"What's an element zero? Is it like fire and frost?"

"No, those aren't real elements to us. Element Zero is what we use to fuel our ship."

"Because your ship is different than the ships that sail the sea, right?"

"That's exactly right. And are those water skins you have?"

"No, those are lyrium potions."

"Can I see one? I keep getting a strange reading from them."

"Sure," Merrill said. She pulled a skin of lyrium skin from her pack and gave it to Tali, who waved her omni-tool over it.

"So you do have Element Zero," she said, excitement creeping into her voice. "These readings are exactly the same to our eezo, only more diluted."

"What does that mean?" Merrill asked.

"I think I might be able to get our ship to run on this 'lyrium' instead of Element Zero," Tali said. "I'll have to run tests on this, of course, but this just might be our way off this planet and back to our own!"

* * *

><p>"Okay, I'm at my limit," Jacob said, putting his glass down.<p>

"So soon? But we're almost through the bottle," Isabella said.

"Any more and I'll go from a good drunk to a sick drunk. I know my limits," Jacob said, trying to get up without falling over. "You can keep your coin."

"What's the point of having money when you can't win or lose it?" Isabella said. "Besides, it's just a simple game of coppers. It's not like losing a few would break me."

"I still can't believe you use real gold and real silver in your coins."

"Well, what else would we use?"

"Where we come from, we use credits. Credits aren't real, physical money, but electronic money that is based on how much gold or silver a country has."

"Where's the fun in that?"

"You can carry your entire fortune on you, and it won't break your back."

"Gold _does_ tend to get very heavy very quick," Isabella nodded.

"Why is copper the least expensive currency?" Jacob asked, looking a copper piece over. "Don't you know how valuable this stuff is?"

"Copper? Valuable?" Isabella laughed. "If you think it's valuable, I'll give you as much as you can carry. Robbed some Templars blind before we left, and I've got too much to carry."

"Credits would come in handy there," Jacob said. He ran his omni-tool over the piece. "Damn, this really is pure copper! Can you seriously give me all the copper you have?"

"Sure, but it would cost you," Isabella said in a sing-song voice. "What would you need it for, anyways?"

"Copper is great at conducting heat, moving it around," Jacob said, sitting down with the copper pieces. "Our weapons generate heat when they fire, and use thermal clips to keep them cool. But we can make copper cooling plates to replace the ammunition!"

"You're getting awfully giddy over a piece of metal. Isn't there something else that excites you?" Isabella asked. Jacob looked up from the gun he was fiddling with.

"You're serious."

"What else would I be playing drinking games with you for?"

"I thought you were being friendly."

"That's one way of calling it," Isabella said.

"Well, shit, this can wait for the morning."

* * *

><p>"If you want to help out, you can help carry things out of the ship, or help Rupert, our chef, cook food," Shepard said, getting up. "Good night, Hawke."<p>

"Are you sure? I'm sure Isabella might know a little metal crafting. We can help with more than just grunt labor..."

"Good night, Hawke," Shepard said, storming away before Hawke could try to apologize for whatever he did.

"You sure got her angry," Tali said, walking up with Merrill.

"You made a woman angry? That isn't like you, Hawke," Merrill giggled.

"I don't know what I said," Hawke said. "I was just trying to be helpful."

"Thank you, but we need specialized workers to fix our ship," Tali said. "You'd just be getting in the way, no offense."

"None taken. I think."

"And don't worry about Shepard. She doesn't get angry very much, but she's fairly quick to forgive. Just don't insult her, she never forgives that."

"That's the thing, I think I might have insulted her," Hawke said.

"Oh boy," Tali said. "Well, just hope that she knows you meant no harm. It's easier to forgive ignorance than cruel intention."

"I sure hope so."

"Well, if she's in a bad mood, then I probably shouldn't talk to her," Tali said. "The good news would have to wait. Guess that means more time for me to run experiments. Doesn't look like I'll be getting much sleep."

"Would this good news be good for you, or good for all of us?"

"Only us, unfortunately."

"Tali thinks she can use our lyrium potions as fuel for their ship," Merrill said.

"First they come from the sky, then they have non-demonic abomination-like aliens, and now their ship runs on magic?" Hawke asked.

"Keelah se'lai, it's not magic, it's a simple mass effect field generator!"

"Um, Tali, you're talking about your magical 'tech' again," Merrill said, smiling.

"Oh, sorry," Tali said, shifting awkwardly. "Well, I better get to work on this. It was good talking to you, Merrill."

"I'll see you in the morning," Merrill called after Tali as she walked into the ship.

"Looks like you made a new friend," Hawke said.

"You'd never believe it, but she's just like the Dalish," Merrill said. "Exiled from their home and everything."

"I guess we really do have a lot in common."

"Hopefully we'll be able to meet the other 'aliens' Shepard said she had on her ship. Speaking of her, what did you do to get her upset?"

"I must have said something, because she got really, really mad," Hawke said. "Hopefully I can make it up to her later."

"I'm sure you will. Maybe Isabella is having better luck with getting to know these sky people than you are."

"I think we both know that Isabella has a way with being liked," Hawke said. Merrill giggled.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"So that's how space men do it," Isabella said as she stretched. "Don't get me wrong, last night was great, but I was expecting more."

"I could say the same about your pirate skills," Jacob said, pulling his uniform on.

"That was uncalled for."

"So was the space man comment."

"Point."

"Now if you get the chance to go into space with us, you should become a member of the Zero Gravity Club."

"You have a club for rutting in space?" Isabella laughed.

"No, that's just what everyone calls it," Jacob said.

"Ah, sort of like the 'Open Storm Band' we have."

"I take it that's having sex in the middle of a sea storm?"

"It's one of the best feelings in the world," Isabella said. "Now be a dear and tell me what this 'zero gravity' is."

"Ugh, just thinking about it makes my head spin," Jacob groaned.

"I thought it was good," Isabella said.

"It is, but I'm too hungover to think about it," Jacob said. "Zero gravity is where you don't have any weight, you just float around."

"Don't have any weight? That's insane!"

"It only happens in outer space. You just kind of float around."

"You just float around, spinning endlessly, end over end over end?"

Jacob coughed, making a quick grab for his room's garbage can.

"Not cool," he groaned.

"Hangovers are only fun for people who don't have them," Isabella laughed, lacing up her boots.

"You and your pirate alcohol tolerance."

"Honey, when you drink as much as I do, you don't get a tolerance for the stuff, you just get used to being hungover."

"That's really something you shouldn't be proud of."

"Bah," Isabella said, waving Jacob off. "Now how do I get off this ship?"

"Damn, this was a mistake," Jacob said. "You're not even supposed to be on the ship. Shepard doesn't want you to getting culture shock. Just follow me and try not to be seen."

"Ooh, a stealth game? My favorite! And if this was a mistake, why did you bring me back to your room?"

"I was drunk, you were pretty and offering. Wait, was that your plan? Get me drunk and take advantage of me?"

"I was planning on getting in bed with you. The drinks were an added bonus."

"Dammit, this was a mistake," Jacob groaned, zipping up his suit. "Just stick close to me."

"Hate to break it to you, but I don't think I can sneak out the front door with you, not if there's a crowd of people. I'm good, but not that good," Isabella said.

"We'll leave through the hanger, at the bottom of the ship. Hopefully everyone will be busy sleeping or eating to notice us."

Jacob opened the door and quietly walked into the hall. Isabella followed him, careful not to make any noise.

"Things look better when you're drunk, but this ship looks even more amazing when you're sober," she whispered.

"Quiet, we're taking the emergency ladder down a floor," Jacob hissed. He opened the medical bay doors, and they made their way through to the AI core. "So far, so good."

"Who's that poor bloke with the broken bones?" Isabella asked, grimacing.

"That's Joker. God help him, he was a wreck when we crashed," Jacob said. "His bones break easier than ours. I'm amazed, and glad, that this didn't kill him."

"Might want to have Anders take a look at him," Isabella said as she started heading down the emergency ladder.

"Is he some kind of doctor?" Jacob asked, following her.

"Doctor? No, he's a healer."

"Well, anything to help Joker get better. But you might want to have Anders talk to Shepard. I can't let him on the ship. Here, let me out the door first," Jacob said, moving past Isabella as they made it to the engineering deck. He opened it and stepped out.

"Where the fuck did you come from?" Jack demanded.

"Jesus Christ, Jack! A little quieter!" Jacob said, wincing. He motioned for Isabella to hide. She looked around for a place to hide, but couldn't find one in the strange ship.

"I almost shot you! What were you thinking, climbing around in the ship?" Jack demanded, holstering her gun.

"I, er, well, I wanted to avoid all the crowds," Jacob stammered.

"So you crawl through the damn air vents? What are you, some kind of action hero?" Jack said, walking over.

Isabella turned around too fast and knocked over a wrench. Jack pulled out her pistol again.

"Who the fuck is there?" She demanded.

"Fuck me," Jacob groaned.

"Guess the game is up," Isabella sighed, walking out onto the deck with her hands in the air.

"Who the fuck is this?" Jack demanded.

"I'm Isabella."

"Isabella? Wait a second, you're one of the local people we saved yesterday, aren't you?"

"Yep, that would be me."

Jack looked at Jacob, than back to Isabella.

"Wait, did you...?"

"Yes, we did," Jacob sighed.

"Oh, this is a riot," Jack laughed, holstering her gun again. "Boss lady told you to keep them out of the ship, but not to keep your hands off them. Nice loop hole!"

"Actually, I was the one who couldn't help touching," Isabella said.

"That's not helping, Isabella."

"Now let me guess: you're trying to sneak little miss busty here off the ship without being spotted, so you decided to take her out through the hanger," Jack said.

"Yep."

"Too bad you forgot I live down here, right?"

"You live down here?" Isabella asked. "Doesn't look like much of a place to live."

"I like the quiet," Jack shot back.

"Hey, you're not getting any insults from me. I lived in a bar for the better part of six years."

"You must have ran up one hell of a tab."

"True, but work came pretty easy."

"Can we go now?" Jacob asked. "I'd like this to stay between us and not the entire ship."

"Sure thing, Jacob. This'll be our little secret," Jack grinned.

"Please don't smile when you say that. It gives me goose bumps."

"Better hurry on out before people start coming down for morning work shift."

"This way. Let's go."

"Jacob, I've got a question," Isabella said as they walked away. "Am I going crazy, or was that woman bald and only wearing a leather strap for a shirt?"

"That's Jack. Just...it's complicated."

"I'm liking her already."

* * *

><p>Shepard woke up, dreading the day. She wanted to give the crew, and more importantly herself, time off after the suicide mission, but their sudden teleportation destroyed any hopes for relaxing. Now they had to worry about getting back home, wherever 'home' was.<p>

She wasn't looking forward to seeing Hawke, either. She knew that he didn't mean anything by his comment about Aveline killing herself, but she couldn't help but get angry.

_I just had to fly off the goddamn handle, didn't I? _She thought. _Christ, now I'm scared to show my face around him. What's gotten into me? I just don't want to do anything today._

Groaning, she pulled herself out of bed.

"Come on, Commander. Got to put on a good show for everyone," she muttered to herself as she stepped into the shower. She had barely taken a step out when EDI called her.

"Shepard? Tali wishes to speak to you," the AI said as Shepard pulled on her uniform. "She says she might have found a suitable replacement for the Element Zero we lost in the crash."

"Finally, some real good news," Shepard said. "Tell her I'll meet her in engineering."

Shepard took the elevator to the engineering level, surprised that it wasn't already in full use, hauling repairing tools up and down the ship. What didn't surprise Shepard was that the engineering deck was already buzzing with activity. The crew crowded the hall, carrying hastily repaired tubing, plating, welding equipment and replacement hardware. Squeezing past people where she could, and answering a chorus of 'good mornings,' Shepard made her way to Tali's workstation. The Quarian was sitting on a stool, soldering a circuit board.

"Morning, Tali," Shepard said, walking up.

"Is it morning already?" Tali asked, holding back a yawn.

"How much sleep did you get?" Shepard asked.

"Maybe an hour or two," Tali replied. "I've been too busy trying to get a working prototype ready for this morning."

"A prototype of what?"

"I was talking to Merrill last night. You know, the elf? She says that mages use something called 'lyrium potions' to fuel their magical power. Apparently, this is where all of the strange eezo-like readings are originating from. I've been working on a way to modify our engines to use this lyrium as a replacement for the eezo we lost."

"Tali, this is great news. But I don't think tossing this stuff into the engines is a good idea," Shepard said.

"Which is why I've been working on a prototype eezo reactor to see if we can do it," Tali said. She held up a shoebox-sized container. "This is it. Took most of the night to make the proper adjustments, but it should work perfectly. We just have to program jump coordinates into it and let it run."

"You built an eezo powered radio-controlled car overnight?"

"Shepard, I'm a Quarian," Tali chuckled. "I told you I could make a circuit board do precision jumps."

"I remember that, I just never thought I'd actually see you do it," Shepard said. "Great work. Are you ready to test it?"

"Just about. But I'll need Legion and Mordin's help," Tali said.

"What do you need their help for? Can't you do this yourself?" Shepard asked.

"I can, I just want to make sure that I'm doing this right," Tali said. "I need as many qualified eyes looking at the data I get, so I won't be off my calculations. If I get something wrong, I could very well blow the Normandy up again."

"We don't want that. So where do you need them?"

"That's the thing, we need to go outside. There just isn't enough room in the Normandy to accurately test a precision jump; at the very least, it'll need to jump the length of the Normandy to give us accurate readings."

"Outside?" Shepard said. Hawke flashed in her mind. She didn't want to face him again. "Are you absolutely sure it can't be done inside?"

"Positive," Tali said. "I know you don't want extraterrestrials outside, spooking Hawke and his people, but I need this help."

"Right, spooking Hawke and culture shock," Shepard stammered. "I'm not sure they're quite ready for anything new."

"I know I'm overstepping myself, but can you please ask him?" Tali said. "I want to get the Normandy ready as soon as possible, and I can't do it without this."

_Fuck it, _Shepard thought. "Fine. I'll go ask him after breakfast."

"Thanks, Shepard," Tali said. "This is a great help."

* * *

><p>Dipping into the pot, Hawke helped himself to the breakfast that Merrill cooked.<p>

"Are you sure this is edible?" Varric asked, spooning the mixture.

"Quite," Merrill answered. "This is just wheat and barley oats boiled in water. It's a quick breakfast that's very filling."

"I think I'll take the mystery stew in the Hanged Man," Isabella said. "No offense, kitten. I'm glad you cooked for us."

"Is this what you used to eat when you were with the Dales?" Bethany asked.

Merrill grew quiet.

"What?" Bethany asked.

"Bethany," Hawke said. "Don't talk about the Dales, not now."

"Did something happen to them?" She asked.

Hawke leaned over to his sister.

"You know she used blood magic, right?" He whispered. "The demon who she deals with tried to possess her, but her Keeper became possessed for her. We had to kill her, and then her entire clan turned on her. We were forced to kill them to save ourselves."

"Maker! I'm sorry, Merrill," Bethany gasped.

"No, no, it's okay. You didn't know about what happened," Merrill said, trying not to cry.

"We always said, 'don't do that blood magic,'" Anders said. "Learning one's lesson is never a pleasant experience."

"Anders, shut it," Hawke snapped.

"Low blow, Blondie," Varric said, shaking his head.

Merrill played with her porridge, her shoulders slumped. Hawke knew she was reliving her Keeper's death and her tribe's attack.

"It's okay," Aveline said, sitting down next to her. "We're still here for you. And there's nothing you can do to change that."

"Thank you," Merrill sniffed. "So, Isabella, who did you romance now?"

"That black skinned man, Jacob," Isabella said. "Oh, what a beauty he is. Tough, strong, but knows when to be gentle. And we ran into the strangest looking woman on our way out, too. Didn't have any hair; looked like she shaved it all off."

"She was bald?" Bethany asked.

"Only hair on her head was stubble," Isabella said. "And only wore a leather strap for a shirt covering up the naughty bits."

"Now why didn't you think that up?" Aveline laughed.

"Laugh all you want, but she had the most gorgeous tattoos covering her body. Tattoos of every color, shape and size; it was amazing."

"Sounds like you have a new crush," Merrill chuckled.

"Wouldn't mind finding out more about her," Isabella admitted.

"I'd be careful, Isabella," Varric said. "Colorful tattoos are a wonderful thing, but you'd have to question the sanity of a woman who walks around without a proper shirt."

"Varric, you know you can't teach Isabella," Hawke said. "You have to let her burn her fingers on the stove before she learns."

"Really, Varric, how long have you known me?" Isabella laughed.

"Just watching out for you," Varric said. "And how was the inside of that ship?"

"It was just other-worldly. I can't even come close to describing it."

"Try us."

"Well, for starters, everything there is _clean_. Everything just seemed to shine. And it's all made of metal, but it doesn't look like any steel we have," Isabella said.

"Hold that thought, Shepard is heading over here," Aveline said.

Hawke looked over his shoulder. Sure enough, Shepard was walking over, not looking very happy.

"Do you still think she's angry at me for yesterday?" He asked Merrill.

"I don't know. She does look put-off," Merrill said.

Hawke took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Morning, Shepard," he said.

"Good morning," she replied, walking up to the group. "How's everyone doing?"

"Perfect," Isabella said.

"Just ducky, thanks," Varric said.

"We're doing good. Thank you, again, for your help," Aveline said.

"You're welcome," Shepard said. "How do you feel about meeting two new aliens?"

"You have two more?" Merrill asked.

"We have several extraterrestrials on-board the Normandy," Shepard said. "So far, you've only met Tali, Grunt, the big man who saved our lives yesterday, and Samara, the Asari—I mean, the woman with blue skin and no hair."

"So who will we be meeting today?" Varric asked.

"Mordin and Legion," Shepard said. "Mordin is our chief science officer, and also a doctor. Legion is...great, how do I explain Legion?"

"Someone would name their kid 'Legion?'" Varric chuckled. "I hope he gave them grief for that choice."

"Well, he's not really a person. Come to think of it, Legion really isn't a 'he' either," Shepard said. "It'll be easier to let him explain. But are you okay with meeting more aliens?"

"Why shouldn't we?" Bethany asked. "We rub shoulders with elves and dwarfs all the time. These 'aliens' can't be any different."

"That's good. Maybe I can get rid of the 'no extraterrestrials outside' rule, then," Shepard said. "We think we found a way to get off the planet, and Tali needs to run some experiments with Mordin and Legion. They'll be out in a bit."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Mordin, Tali and Legion walked out of the airlock and down the make-shift platform leading to the ground.

"Fascinating planet," Mordin said. "Air seems fresh, pure almost. Must be the lack of coal-burning power plants."

"According to our accounts with the natives, they have barely progressed past the Iron Age in terms of technology," Legion said. "It would make sense that the planet's ecosystem would be in a much purer state, as they have not gained the ability to create high levels of technology, and have avoided the pitfalls of pollution."

"Let's try to keep it that way," Shepard said. "We don't want to throw their world into chaos by accidentally giving them ideas for gunpowder, or even steam power."

"Don't worry, Shepard, they think our technology is magic as it is," Tali said, carrying her prototype.

"Creator-Tali makes a fair point. The human author Arthur C. Clark has stated that 'any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.' We may not have any adverse effect on the population," Legion said.

"Good. Would hate to disrupt the local lifestyle. Would be re-living the krogan introduction to the galaxy, only we won't be here to try and fix our mistake," Mordin said. "Looks like they were expecting us."

* * *

><p>Shepard and Tali walked out of the ship, followed by two aliens. One was small, with skin the color of an orange, had a pear-shaped head and extremely large black eyes. The other vaguely looked like Tali, only he seemed to be made out of metal, and had a strange circular glowing head with no face.<p>

"You know, the way Shepard was talking about these aliens, I was expecting to see a floating octopus," Varric said.

"Disappointed?" Hawke chuckled.

"Not at all. Although I do have a hankering for some calamari right now."

"Try not to eat anyone. I don't think they would appreciate it," Hawke said. He turned to Shepard. "So these are two new aliens, huh?"

"Yes. May I introduce you to Mordin Solus and Legion," Shepard said. "Mordin, Legion, this is Hawke, Varric, Merrill, Aveline, Bethany, Isabella and Anders."

"Pleasure to meet all of you," Mordin said, shaking hands with Hawke. He turned to Merrill. "And you said that you are an elf?"

"That's right."

"Incredible! I've heard that elves were a human mythological creation. Never would have thought to meet with a creature of legend."

"You sure talk fast," Merrill giggled.

"Apologies. Compared to other species, salarians have a hyperactive metabolism. We think fast, talk fast, act fast. Don't mean to rush anyone, this is just how we are."

"'Salarian?' Is that what you are?" Varric asked.

"Yes. And you must be the dwarf."

"Yep. Varric Tethras, at your service," Varric said, bowing.

"It is a pleasure. Would love to run studies on you. Meeting new species always makes me giddy."

"Would not recommend saying that. Might upset the natives," Legion said.

"Andraste's flaming knickers, you're a golem!" Anders said.

"You have a golem in your crew?" Hawke said. "You're just full of surprises, Shepard."

"Legion isn't a golem, he's a Geth," Tali said.

"Golem: an animated anthropomorphic being, created entirely from inanimate matter. Originated in Human Jewish folklore," Legion said. Metal phalanges rose from his head, making him seem like a dog bristling it's fur. "We recognize your analogy as being accurate. However, we already have an equally appropriate name. You may simply refer to us as 'Legion.'"

"What's with this 'we?'" Isabella asked. "Are they're more than one of you here?"

"Oh boy, this is going to get complicated," Shepard sighed.

"There are thousands of Geth in our home universe," Legion said. "We are only one-thousand, one-hundred and eighty-three programs in this active platform."

"You have over a thousand of you on that ship?" Aveline asked.

"No, on this active platform," Legion corrected.

"What Legion means is that there are over one-thousand Geth in his mind," Tali said.

"So, which one are we talking to?" Isabella asked.

"We do not understand your question," Legion said, his metal head-mounted phalanges spiking. "Please restate question."

"Are we talking to the first of the one-thousand? Or the three-hundredth? Maybe the nine-hundredth?"

"You are not talking to any individual Geth consciousness."

"So who are we talking to?"

"You are talking to a collective consciousness of the one-thousand, one-hundred and eighty-three Geth programs," Legion said.

"How does that work? Every single one of the people in your mind votes on what to say?" Varric asked.

"That would be a basic understanding of the process."

"Maker, it must be loud in there. How do you even talk that fast if you have to ask for people's opinions?" Varric said.

"Geth do not think as organics do. While organic minds operate on chemical impulses-"

"Uh, Legion, let's keep things simple around here," Shepard said.

"Understood, Commander-Shepard," Legion said. He paused, the metal phalanges on his head rose, then fell. "We think using electricity, which is near instantaneous speeds."

"So you think using lightning bolts?" Bethany asked.

"That would be a correct analogy."

"Well, what if I want to talk to the two-hundredth and twenty-second person in that mind of yours?" Isabella asked. "Can I talk to him?"

"We do not understand your request."

"Can I talk to the two-hundredth and twenty-second person? Not the person who gets to do all the talking, or all of the people now, but just that one?"

"That individual program wants to know what the purpose of that request would be," Legion said.

"Nothing, really. Just wanted to know if I could do it," Isabella said. "But I could if I wanted to, right?"

"Correct."

"Well, that was easier than trying to talk to Anders and not Justice."

"I resent that."

"This is all fascinating, but we need to get to work," Tali said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I'm getting anxious to see if this will work."

"I agree, but I find the interactions between the locals and Legion quite interesting," Mordin said. "Can learn how they react to radically advanced technology."

"Mordin, you can watch as much as you want after we get these tests done," Shepard said. "You have all you need for this test?"

"I'll need a few more lyrium potions from Merrill, but aside from that, I have all I need."

"We only have twenty or so potions, but you can have as much as you need," Merrill said.

* * *

><p>"So how will this work?" Merrill asked.<p>

"Well, this makeshift ship will turn on, float up a few feet, then hopefully enter precision jump mode," Tali said, entering code on her omni-tool. "It should jump from the end of the Normandy to the front."

"How long will that take?"

"Just a blink of an eye," Tali said. "Legion? Can you find any errors in the code?"

"None, Creator-Tali," Legion said. "The prototype is ready for testing."

"Great," Tali said. "Filling up with Element Zero."

"I thought you said you were going to test the lyrium potions," Merrill said.

"We are, but we first have to run a control experiment, to make sure it works," Tali said. "If there are any problems, we can rule out the possibility that the lyrium was the cause of it. Now let's move out of the way. Shepard? We're ready to test."

* * *

><p>The entire crew had come out of the Normandy to see the test. The small rock lined cove was filled to the brim with officers standing around.<p>

"You sure know how to pick a crew, Shepard," Isabella said.

"I actually didn't have much of a choice," Shepard admitted. "I just got the ship and crew, and headed off to save the universe."

"You 'just got' the ship?' You lucky bitch, how did you manage that?"

"It's kind of complicated. Came with a lot of catches."

"Maker, if I got that chance, I'd take it, catches be damned," Isabella said. "My own ship, free of charge? And filled to the brim with strong, good looking men? You must be stress-free all the time."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"You have your pick of men any time you want it. I haven't had that opportunity since my ship sank."

"...What?"

"Well, what else would you use your crew for? Just sailing the ship? Seems like a big waste."

"Um, well, I don't know how things work here, but that sort of thing is frowned upon where we come from."

"Having relations with your crew?"

"Exactly."

"Now that's a damn shame," Isabella said. "Don't you get lonely when you're out sailing? Cooped up? Cabin fever? Anything?"

"We have plenty of things to keep us occupied. Books, movies, music, cards..."

"Oh, and that keeps you busy all the time?" Isabella chuckled. "You mean to tell me you didn't even have the smallest urge to scratch that itch? Especially with men like Jacob around?"

"I, well..."

"Speaking of which, are there any more women on board? I saw a few walking around, but there has to be more than just two or three."

"Uh, there's Yeoman Chambers, and Engineer Daniels..."

"And what's the deal with these 'alien' men? How do things work with them?"

"_Shepard, we're ready to test,"_ Tali said over the comm line.

"Great, start the test whenever you're ready," Shepard replied, blushing heavily.

"Well?" Isabella asked.

"Uh, you might want to talk to Mordin about that," Shepard said.

From the rear of the ship, the prototype rose, humming as it hovered three feet from the ground. The hum quickly went from a low-pitched rumble to a nearly ear piercing shriek. Suddenly, it disappeared, then reappeared with a pop at the front of the ship, where it fell to the ground with a thump. The crew cheered at the successful jump.

"Maker, was that your technology magic? That's incredible," Isabella said.

"Yea, it's impressive, isn't it?" Shepard said. "If you'll excuse me, I, uh, have to talk to Tali."

Shepard moved through the crowd, walking towards the front of the ship. Tali, Legion and Mordin were already converging on the prototype.

"What's the news?" She asked

"Everything seemed to work perfectly," Tali said, scanning the prototype. "The prototype's reading a normal precision jump. Legion, did you get any strange readings?"

"Negative, Creator-Tali," Legion said. "The prototype completed a normal jump, as you have said."

"Have to agree. Was scanning the prototype for normal Element Zero exposure, read nothing out of the ordinary," Mordin said.

"Then we're ready to test the lyrium?" Shepard asked.

"I'm swapping out the Element Zero for the lyrium right now," Tali said.

* * *

><p>"This is so exciting!" Merrill said.<p>

"It's certainly not every day we get to see strange magic being performed," Bethany said.

"And it's not blood magic! This is getting better and better!" Anders said.

"Watch yourself, Anders," Aveline warned. "You're still in the dog house for this morning's crack."

"I'll behave, mother."

"Shh! They're walking away!" Merrill said.

Shepard, Tali, the golem Legion and scientist Mordin were walking away from the ship. Seconds later, the prototype rose from the ground again, hummed, and disappeared, suddenly reappearing a few fathoms away from where it had taken off.

"I don't think I'll ever quite get used to that," Hawke said.

"Don't worry, Hawke, I'm right there with you," Varric said. "All this 'technology' whatchamacallit is making my head spin."

* * *

><p>"Well, it worked," Tali said, walking to the prototype. "It didn't travel as far as the first jump, but it worked. Doesn't seem to be damaged or suffering from any jump errors, too. Legion?"<p>

"Aside from the fact that the prototype only traveled one-fourth of the distance it was projected to, the test was normal as compared to previous control test," Legion said.

"Short travel distance is puzzling," Mordin said. "Still, no sudden spike in radiation levels, no obvious explosions, would say this is a success."

"The prototype's logs says it was a normal jump," Tali said, scanning the prototype. "The only error I can find is that it didn't produce an equally sized mass effect field compared to the control test."

"It appears that while 'lyrium' is a suitable replacement, it would require much more to achieve the same effect," Legion said.

"Any idea how much more lyrium we'll need to replace the eezo?" Shepard asked.

"Approximately a four-to-one lyrium to Element Zero ratio," Legion said. "We are currently need to replace twenty kilograms of eezo."

"Hm. This could pose a problem," Mordin said. "Merrill didn't say how many lyrium potions she had, did she Tali?"

"She said about twenty, I think. It took nearly two potions to power the prototype."

"We'll need more of this lyrium," Shepard said.

* * *

><p>"Hawke, mind if we talk?" Shepard said, walking over.<p>

"Sure thing. Just in time for lunch. You want some rabbit?" Hawke said.

"Rabbit? You caught that?" Shepard asked.

"If there's one thing the Dalish are known for, it's living off the land," Merrill said. "I set a trap late last night, got it this morning after breakfast."

"Well, you tried our food, might as well try yours," Shepard said, accepting a plate and taking a bite. "You sure like your spices."

"Is it bad?" Merrill asked.

"No, it's really good."

"Great! I'm glad you like it!"

"So how did the test go?" Hawke asked.

"Tests went perfectly," Shepard said, finishing her cut of rabbit. "We'll be able to use lyrium to fuel our ship."

"A lyrium powered ship. Now I've seen everything," Isabella chuckled.

"Never would have thought we'd be using magic to power our ship," Shepard agreed. "The thing is, we need a lot more lyrium to power it."

"I'm not sure we'll have enough lyrium potions to give you," Anders said. "We only have fifteen left."

"That's great," Shepard said, rolling her eyes. "We need one-hundred and twenty kilograms to power our ship."

"How much is a kilogram?" Bethany asked.

"And now we need to find a way to convert weight. What happened to all this good news we had?" Shepard sighed. She pulled up her omni-tool. "Legion, could you come over here please?"

"_Coming, Shepard-Commander."_

"How will a golem help us out?" Anders said.

"Legion has plenty of uses."

"You called, Shepard-Commander?" Legion asked, walking up.

"I need your help to convert weight," Shepard said. "Hawke, can we borrow your shield?"

"Sure," Hawke said, picking up his shield and handing it to Shepard.

"How much does it weight?"

"About twelve stones," Hawke said.

"Legion?" Shepard handed the shield to the Geth.

"Don't tell me he's a walking, talking scale," Varric laughed.

"The shield weights eleven kilograms. Assuming that Hawke-Commander has given the correct weight of twelve stones, the conversion rate would be point-nine-one, kilograms to stones."

"Then how much lyrium would we need?" Shepard asked.

"One-hundred and thirty-one stone's worth."

"Andraste wept," Anders cursed. "You need _that_ much lyrium?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Shepard said.

"I don't think I've ever heard of that much lyrium being in one place," Merrill said.

"They certainly didn't have all that lyrium in the Circle," Bethany said. "Wait, do you need that in _raw_ lyrium, or lyrium _potions_?"

"There's a difference?" Shepard asked.

"A big one!" Anders said. "Lyrium potion is only half raw lyrium and half solution."

"What kind of solution?"

"Mostly water," Anders said.

"If you want to get fancy, you can make it out of wine," Bethany added. "That little trick got a few bottles past Templars in the Circle."

"You used the old 'lyrium booze' trick?" Anders asked.

"Bethany!" Hawke said, mock shocked.

"Naughty girl," Isabella grinned.

"What? It was only a few times," Bethany said, blushing. "Besides, it was only wine."

"Only wine? Back when I was in the Circle, we used spirits," Anders said.

"I'll have to keep that in mind. So we'll only need half the 'raw' lyrium to make the same potion?" Shepard asked.

"Just about," Anders said. "Too much lyrium, it'll be too potent. Nasty things happen when it's too potent. People get addicted, could even blow up if they take too much of it. And too much water, and it'll get, well, watered down."

"Then we'll need sixty-six stones of raw lyrium, rounding up to compensate for conversion errors," Legion said.

"Only sixty-six? Now that's _much_ better!" Hawke joked.

"You obviously don't have that much lyrium, so would you know where we can get some?" Shepard asked.

"Good luck getting it in Kirkwall," Aveline said. "The Templars get twitchy whenever they find people with two lyrium potions on their person."

"Could you imagine Tali, Legion and Mordin in Kirkwall?" Merrill asked.

"They'd get thrown into the Gallows faster than you could sneeze," Anders said.

"Or they'd just kill them. Speaking of Templars, don't you think that the Templars would get rid of the lyrium potions, especially after the mage uprising?" Varric said. "If I were them, I'd get rid of lyrium potions to control mages."

"That's a good point," Hawke said. "So Kirkwall is out of the option."

"Can we get raw lyrium from anywhere else? I'm pretty sure we can make the potions by ourselves," Shepard said.

"Ha! You'll have to go into the Deep Roads to get that," Anders laughed.

"'The Deep Roads?'" Shepard asked.

"Old dwarf civilization," Varric said. "Darkspawn territory, now. It'll be absolute suicide to go down there and get anything, short of your head cut off."

Shepard flinched.

"Do these 'darkspawn' generate that much threat?" Legion asked.

"Oh, they're only a few hundred thousand of them, all of them feral and know nothing except killing and can't be reasoned with," Hawke said.

"Don't forget the ogres," Aveline added.

"Oh, the ogres! How could I forget!"

"So they're very dangerous," Shepard said. "But that's the only place we can get raw lyrium from?"

"In that quantity," Bethany said.

"Well, looks like we don't have that much of a choice," Shepard sighed.

"You can't be serious," Varric said. "Going into the Deep Roads? Now?"

"Soon enough," Shepard said. "Remember, we have 'magic technology' on our side. I don't think the darkspawn can compete with that."

"Shepard-Commander, we may not have enough ammunition to safely stage a mining operation," Legion warned.

"Then let's hope Jacob came up with a good replacement for the thermal clips, because we need that lyrium to get back home."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"So…You have a good night?" Jack asked.

"Please, not now," Jacob sighed.

"Come on, what's to be ashamed about? You nailed a hot local."

"I appreciate you helping me, but can you please talk about something else?"

"Hell no, that was too funny to let you forget," Jack laughed.

"Dammit, I knew that was a mistake."

"What? Afraid to get a magical STD?"

"I really don't need this shit right now."

"So you move your workstation inside the ship to avoid her?"

"No, because we can't have dirt and grime getting into the guns and messing up the inner workings. These things aren't as tough as you'd think."

"Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that."

The door to the armory slid open and Shepard walked in.

"Careful, Jacob. Boss lady just walked in," Jack grinned.

"Did I interrupt something?" Shepard asked.

"No, Shepard, you didn't mess anything up," Jacob said, glaring at Jack.

"Good," Shepard said, giving Jacob a disbelieving eye. "So what's the news on the gun front?"

"Got a good alternative to the thermal clips," Jacob said, holding up a modified Mattock heavy assault rifle. Sticking out of the thermal clip slot was a massive, although crudely made, copper-finned heat sink that ran along the length of the rifle. "According to some, uh, of the locals, they use gold, silver and copper for currency, copper being the cheapest. I've gotten some copper pieces from one of them, and was able to turn them into a heat sink, so it should work like the weapons before the thermal clip retrofit."

"Hopefully they won't blow up like they used to before the retrofit," Shepard said.

"Pussies," Jack said.

"Is that ready to test?" Shepard asked, ignoring Jack.

"Should be. The on-board systems will need a little tweaking to compensate for the heat sink, but physically it should be ready to fire," Jacob said.

"Good. Get Legion, Mordin or Garrus to help you run the tests. Once it's safe to handle and shoot, start converting more guns over."

"How many do you want, Commander?"

"As many as you can make."

"You getting ready to fight a war or something, boss lady?"

"We might be. Tali found a replacement for the lost eezo, but to get it, we'll have to go to some place called the 'Deep Roads.' According to Hawke and his company, that place will be crawling with hostiles."

"Sounds just like the suicide mission all over again," Jacob said.

"That's what I don't like about it, and that's why I need as many weapons converted as possible," Shepard said, trying not to cringe. "If we're walking into a death trap, I want to make sure we have enough firepower to shoot our way out."

* * *

><p>"Wouldn't Legion be a better help than me?" Garrus asked, attaching the Mattock rifle to a tripod.<p>

"He might be, but you're a gun nut like me. I think personal experience would be better than technical know-how," Jacob said. "'Sides, I thought you would like getting out of the ship."

"It is nice, I'm just worried that the locals wouldn't take too kindly to a Turian," Garrus said.

"They actually were very calm when they met Legion and Mordin."

"So they didn't yell 'abomination' and try to cut them in half with a sword?"

"That seems to only be a group of locals called the 'Templars.'"

"Note to self: avoid Templars," Garrus said. "Okay, the gun should be ready. You got fire control?"

"Got it," Jacob said, adjusting his omni-tool.

"Let's test this thing out, then," Garrus said, jogging away from the tripod mounted gun. "Think this will work?"

"It'll work. The question is whether it blow up eventually," Jacob said. "Got the water ready?"

"Ready," Garrus said, holding up one of the four water filled bottles.

"Testing heat sink! Fire in the hole!"

Jacob pressed the button on his omni-tool, and the Mattock rifle fired. The shot hit the nearby boulders. Jacob and Garrus stood twenty yards away, waiting for the rifle to blow up. Twenty seconds passed, and nothing happened.

"Well, this was kind of anti-climactic," Garrus said. "Didn't get any negative readings. Did you?"

"Nope. Just a normal discharge. Let's try it again. Fire in the hole!"

The Mattock rang out again, and still didn't explode.

"So far, we're batting a thousand," Jacob said, grinning.

"'Batting a thousand?'" Garrus asked.

"Sports analogy. Ever heard of baseball?"

"Think I saw a game once on the Citadel. Didn't seem that exciting."

"You just got to get into it."

"Where's the hole that on fire?" Varric asked, walking up.

"There isn't a hole that's on fire, it's just a military term," Jacob said. "Your name is Varric, isn't it? I don't think we've met."

"No, but I've heard _plenty_ about you," Varric grinned. Jacob blushed.

"How did he hear about you?" Garrus asked.

"Whoa!" Varric said, jumping back. "Tell me when there's going to be an alien around! Almost stopped my heart."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Garrus said. "I'm Garrus, a Turian."

"Varric. Dwarf."

"So I've heard. Need any help?"

"Just wanted to see what all the racket was," Varric said, still holding his chest. "Gotta say, it's kind of nice to actually see an alien that looks different than humans. All this hype about 'how they look different than us,' and all we saw as Tali. Bit of a letdown."

"Glad to live up to your expectations," Garrus said. "We're testing our weapon out to see if we can make any adjustments on them."

"What adjustments for?" Varric asked.

"It's, well, complicated," Jacob said.

"All you got to say, Jacob my man. I won't ask any questions," Varric said. "Is this what you shot at me when we met?"

"You're talking about the rock we kicked up near you?" Garrus asked.

"That's the one."

"Actually, I was the one who took the shot."

"I'll be! From one sharp shot to another, it was a nice shot," Varric said.

"Thanks."

"Just to let you know, we'll be testing our weapon more, so you might want to cover your ears," Jacob said. "It takes a while to get used to the sound."

"Don't think I'll ever get used to it. Sounds like an explosion going off," Varric said.

"You want an explosion? You should hear Legion fire off his Widow anti-tank rifle, or Grunt shooting his Claymore," Garrus said. "Now _those_ things kick."

"I think I'll pass, thank you," Varric said. "Well, test when ready, gentlemen. Don't let me stop you."

"Rapid firing! Fire in the hole!" Jacob called out. He worked the Mattock, and it faithfully spat out shot after shot. Varric held his hands over his ears. Soon, the heat sink started glowing a deep red.

"That supposed to happen?" Varric yelled over the gun.

"Yep," Garrus said, scanning the rifle. "Still in optimal temperature zone. Keep firing."

"Just past the twenty mark," Jacob said, still pressing the firing button. "Thirty and counting."

The heat sink grew from a deep red to a bright cherry red. Smoke rose from the gun.

"Hitting the heat limit," Garrus said. "A few more should do it." The Mattock clicked on empty, and began beeping.

"Thirty-six shots before overheating," Jacob said. "Not bad. You could raise a lot of hell with that."

"Is that supposed to happen?" Varric asked, pointing to the heat sink. It slowly started sagging, bending closer and closer to the ground.

"Shit!" Jacob grabbed a water bottle, ran to the gun and dumped the water directly on the heat sink. Hissing, steam billowed from the heat sink. Garrus was quick to follow with two more water bottles, pouring them onto the heat sink.

"That was close," Jacob said. "How's the temperature?"

"Still pretty high, but in normal operating ranges," Garrus said, reading his omni-tool. "Good save, Varric."

"What did I save?" Varric asked, walking over.

"If the heat sink snapped off, the gun could have exploded," Garrus said. "I thought you secured the heat sink to the gun."

"I thought I did, too," Jacob said. "Maybe it melted the mounting bolt?"

"It did get pretty damn hot," Garrus said. He experimentally tapped the heat sink. "Pretty warm, but safe to touch."

"We got to find a way to mount these better."

"Now, I know you said this was complicated, but why exactly do you need these things, anyways?" Varric asked, pointing to the heat sink.

"When our guns fire, they generate heat, and they have to get rid of that heat if they want to keep firing," Garrus explained. "We usually have something called thermal clips to cool the gun, but those are designed to be expendable.

"If the gun generates too much heat, or shoots too much, the clip will go bad, and you'll need to replace it. Thing is, we don't have a lot of thermal clips to use, so we have to come up with an alternative, namely these heat sinks."

"So the gun stays cool and you can keep shooting?" Varric asked slowly.

"That's the idea," Jacob said, examining the gun. "Doesn't look like any damage was done. We should be able to use this again."

"Good. Hate to see you wreck a Mattock. Those are good rifles," Garrus said.

"What if we water-cool them?" Jacob asked.

"How will you cool the steam and condense it into water?" Garrus said. "The condenser will be too big to carry around. Maybe for a mounted weapon, but you'll have to air cool all the weapons."

"A mounted weapon might not be a bad idea. These Deep Roads are supposed to be dangerous," Jacob said.

"You have no idea how right you are," Varric said.

* * *

><p>Hawke was sharpening his sword when Shepard walked up.<p>

"Hawke, we'll have to talk with you and your people," Shepard said. "Think we can talk over dinner?"

"Sure thing," Hawke said.

"Good. I'll save you a spot. See you in a few minutes," Shepard said, walking away.

"Looks like I'm still on her shit list," Hawke sighed.

"I don't know, she didn't seem so angry as embarrassed," Merrill said.

"Then here's hoping I'm off her list. Dinner would be awkward if I was," Hawke said, getting up.

"Ah, having dinner with enemies. There's nothing quite like it," Isabella said sarcastically as she got up. "Any ideas what we'll have for dinner?"

"I'm wondering how Tali would eat," Merrill said. "She said she can't take off her mask without getting sick."

"I'm actually interested to see what she looks like under that mask," Bethany said.

"You and everyone else," Aveline said. "But it'll be rude to ask her, won't it?"

"I guess so," Bethany said.

Hawke and his group walked to the make-shift dinner table that Shepard's crew had set up. Men and women were already getting their food from a chef and sitting down.

"Come on, Rupert, left over chili again?" One man said. "You trying to stretch this out?"

"Suck it up, princess. We're rationing food right now. No idea when we'll be getting back," the chef replied.

"So good to know you care," the man said, sitting down.

"And here are our new friends!" The chef said. "Hope our food is to your liking."

"The food is great, thank you," Hawke said.

"It's so good to know that I'm wanted here," the chef said, yelling at the man who complained. He waved it off as his friends laughed.

"There's Shepard," Hawke said, walking past the Normandy crew. She sat with her crew. Hawke could see Jacob and Tali sitting with her. The other people he didn't know. Hawke took a deep breath. _Here goes nothing,_ he thought.

"Thanks for inviting us to dinner again," he said, sitting down across from Shepard.

"Don't mention it," she said flatly. "Things going well for you and your group?"

"They're going well enough," Hawke said. "Need our help again?"

"I am in that unfortunate position," Shepard admitted. "Jacob says that he can modify our guns, but we're going to have to ask you for more copper."

"You're getting bent out of shape over some copper?" Isabella said. "You can have all mine. I only gave Jacob about half."

"I think it's only fair you get some money out of the deal, seeing how you saved our lives and are putting us up," Hawke said. "But don't you want some gold instead of copper?"

"We're not using the copper for money, we're using it to modify our weapons."

"You should see what they're doing with it," Varric said. "It's really scary stuff, Hawke."

"Was that the explosions we heard around noon time?" Hawke asked.

"That was exactly it," Jacob said.

"Well, I think I've got close to eighty copper in my purse," Hawke said, thinking.

"I have seventy," Varric said.

"And I know I have a few silvers worth of copper," Merrill said.

"What do you do with all that copper, Dasiy?"

"I like buying the homeless children pastries," she replied. "I only use copper so they don't steal."

"Good to know pickpocketing has wised you up," Varric said.

"Still doesn't feel like we're helping out that much," Hawke said.

"Believe me, you are," Shepard assured him. "Although we do need your expertise in getting to the Deep Roads."

"Shepard, you really can't be thinking of going down there. It's suicide." Shepard twitched, and Hawke stammered as he continued. "The only reason we survived was because we went in after a Blight, when most the darkspawn were either out on the surface or dead. Now it'll be crawling with them."

"Unfortunately, we need that lyrium to power or ship. We really don't have much of a choice," Shepard said. She put her spoon down to hide the tremor in her hand. "Can we have your help?"

Hawke sighed.

"Yes. I'd hate to see you die down there," he said. "But you'll need to learn some sword play in case those weapons of yours don't work."

"And you'll need some different clothes," Varric added. "Unless you like explaining to people that you come from the sky."

"There are people who live in the Deep Roads?" Tali asked.

"No, but you'll probably run into the odd merchant or two getting there," Varric said. "Who knows? You might even run into some Templars."

"So we'll need clothes and weapons," Shepard said. "I take it we can get those in Kirkwall?"

"Definitely," Hawke said. "I'd help you, but the Templars want us dead, so there's not much we can do to help."

"Maybe you can," Tali said. "We can get a few people dressed up in spare clothes, and you can guide us through the city using our comm lines."

"That's a good idea," Shepard said.

"Is that more of your sky-magic-technology stuff?" Hawke asked. Shepard nodded. "That just might work, as long as you don't start talking to the thin air."

"I'm sure we can manage that," Shepard said. "Do you have any spare clothes?"

"I'm pretty sure we can scrounge up a few odd outfits," Bethany said.

"And we can lend you the money to buy everything," Hawke added.

"Can I ask for a favor?" Aveline said.

"It's only fair. What is it?" Shepard asked.

"My husband, Donnic, is with the City Guard, and I want to make sure he's okay," Aveline said. "If I write a letter, can you deliver it to him?"

"I'll make sure it gets to him," Shepard promised.

"Thank you," Aveline said.

"This is really coming together," Shepard smiled. "How many outfits and weapons should we buy?"

"We should probably limit the number of non-humans we bring," Jacob said. "Just like Varric said, we might run into people on our way there."

"Then it'll probably be me, you, Miranda, Kasumi and Zaeed," Shepard said.

"I think I should come," Tali said. "If we're bringing customized guns with us, I can manage repairs, and even scan for lyrium."

"Sounds good," Shepard said. "So we'll need six outfits."

"How will we disguise Tali?" Merrill asked.

"We could put her in Chantry robes," Bethany said. "We can hide her mask in a hood. Plenty of sisters wear the hood at all times."

"And may I suggest you buy plenty of one-handed swords and shields?" Hawke said. "You'll need the extra protection with the darkspawn, even if you're bringing your own weapons."

"Good advice," Shepard said. "Who are you bringing?"

"I'm coming, obviously," Hawke said. "Anders! Ready for another trip to the Deep Roads?"

"In the Maker's name, why am I always being dragged back to that pit?" Anders groaned.

"You're one of our healers. Consider this payment for the mages," Hawke shot back. "Varric, Aveline?"

"I'm with you, Hawke," Aveline said.

"I'm coming, too," Bethany said.

"No, you're not. It's too dangerous."

"No, I'm not letting you talk me out of this again," Bethany said. "I've spend the last five years in the Circle, cooped up in a room, and I am _going_ to see what the world has to offer, even if it is a vile pit filled with darkspawn."

"You're going to regret this," Anders warned.

"I don't care, it feels like life is passing me by," Bethany said. "Besides, you could always use another healer."

"You're a doctor?" Shepard asked.

"No, a healer," Bethany replied. "I can use magic to heal."

"Like, wave your hands over someone, and they're fine?"

"Exactly."

"I don't want to make the choice for you, Hawke, but that sounds like a good skill to have," Shepard said.

"It really is," Hawke admitted.

"By the way, do you think you can help heal some of our crew?" Shepard asked. "They got injured in the crash."

"Sure thing," Bethany said.

"I can help, too," Anders said.

"This is great. Do you think we can get those outfits tonight? I want to head into Kirkwall as soon as we can," Shepard said.

"We'll get them after dinner," Hawke promised.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The descriptions didn't do Kirkwall justice. The walls loomed over Shepard, and she was still a dozen meters from the gates. They saw what Hawke called the Viscount's chambers, more of a spire to Shepard, from over a kilometer away. And now she could see a group of Templars and armed men standing guard by the entrance.

"Any last minute tips?" She whispered to the comm line.

"_First, don't worry about driving the horse and carriage,"_ Hawke said in her ear. "_It's real easy to get the hang of, and the horses you buy shouldn't bolt or anything. Second, the Templars will try to harass you. If they do, try to get the City Guard's attention. Aveline says that Donnic should have them under orders to protect the people, so they should handle it."_

"Alright," Shepard said. "Is everyone ready?"

"Ready as ever," Zaeed said from her side.

"Come on, Shep, don't sound so stressed," Kasumi said cheerfully. "Enjoy this. You're a city girl, aren't you?"

"Not a _medieval_city girl. The slums of Earth don't compare to this," Shepard said. "Are our spotters doing fine?"

* * *

><p>"Well, as long as these lights don't try to eat us, I think we'll be fine," Hawke said, speaking into the glowing panel showing Kirkwall. "Are you sure these things are working?"<p>

"They're working perfectly," Mordin said. "You're taking the introduction to our technology surprisingly well. I would have thought culture shock would affect the three of you more than this."

"Oh, you know us, go with the flow," Isabella said.

"I'm just glad I had some liquid courage before coming here," Varric grumbled.

"Thanks for giving me a drink, too," Hawke said.

"Maker, this place is too clean," Varric grumbled. "And too bright. And too...shit, I don't know, other-worldly."

"Ah, there's culture shock," Mordin said. "Do you want a relaxant?"

"And now you're offering me drugs. What kind of doctor are you?" Varric demanded.

"It would be best to stay calm, so I'm trying to help with that," Mordin said.

"_Bad enough we let them have drinks. I don't think a doped up dwarf would be much help getting us through the city,"_ Shepard said over the comm line.

"Good point, Commander."

"_Alright, we're approaching the entrance. Engaging in one-way radio silence. Help us if we need it."_

* * *

><p>"Halt," the Templar barked. "State your business!"<p>

"We're here to buy supplies," Shepard replied. "We're traveling refugees."

"Just what we need, more bloody refugees clogging up the streets," a second Templar growled. "You'd think all the Fereldans would have left by now."

"_Great, an anti-Fereldan Templar,"_ Hawke said in her ear. _"Just what we need. They might not let you in out of principle."_

"All people have a right to enter the city," one of the three guardsman tiredly said.

"I've never seen these people before. They could be trying to smuggle blood mages out of the city," the lead Templar growled.

"Blood mages! Blood mages! It's always the same thing from you Templars," the guard said. "Do any of these people look like mages to you? No wait, everyone looks like mages to you, even that old grandmother we let in this morning."

"She could have been an elderly apostate," the Templar barked back.

"She couldn't lift a staff to save her life, let alone slash her wrists!"

"Please, don't mind us. We'll just slip by you and let you two keep up the lover's quarrel," Shepard said.

"Hold it," the second Templar said, blocking Shepard's path. "You aren't an apostate, are you?"

"Of course not," Kasumi said. "We're just travelers looking for some new clothes. These rags barely fit us."

"If you're refugees, do you even have any money to spend?"

"_Careful, he might charge you a 'gate fee' if you show him your money,"_ Varric said.

"We have a small purse between the three of us, maybe enough for a new cloak or two," Shepard said, her heart hammering.

"Maker, did your face have a run-in with a battering ram?" The first Templar asked Zaeed.

"A few axes and swords, actually," Zaeed replied frostily.

"'A few?'" The Templar chuckled. "That's a face only a mother could love."

"Funny you should mention that, because your mother absolutely loved it last night," Zaeed growled. The city guards broke out laughing, and the Templar bristled.

"Watch yourself, arsehole," the Templar said, trying to sound dangerous. "You're starting to look like a mage sympathizer."

"Right," Zaeed said, brushing past the Templar. Shepard and Kasumi followed him into the city. They could still hear the guards laughing at the Templars as they walked in.

* * *

><p>"That was fucking beautiful!" Varric laughed.<p>

"You put that fucker in his place," Isabella chuckled. "How in the Maker's name did those Templars not arrest you?"

"_Just got to show them who's boss,"_ Zaeed replied. _"Establish dominant rank, and it all falls into place. Something I learned while making the Blue Suns mercenaries."_

"_Zaeed, that was briliant. Now stop talking to the comm line,"_ Shepard said.

"Okay, now you're on the main street of Kirkwall," Hawke said, watching the screen. It showed Shepard's current view. "Take a right. That will lead you to High Town, and to the Viscount's Chambers. Just say you have a personal letter for Guardsman Donnic, and they should let you in."

The image turned right and started walking up the stairs to High Town.

"This is fantastic," Isabella said. "Whatever they see, we're seeing now?"

"Yes," Mordin said. "Shepard is wearing a small video camera contact lens. Typically used for undercover work. Surprised we had it on board. But you never know when you might need one. They're very small, very easy to use. Not the greatest picture, but it gets the job done."

"You sky people and you're technology," Isabella said, shaking her head. "If you could lend me some, I could be the best pirate the world has ever seen."

"I don't think they're going to let you walk away with full pockets," Varric said.

"I'd love to see them try to stop me."

"Ahem." Mordin cleared this throat.

"Oh, did I just say that out loud?" Isabella mused. "How foolish of me!"

* * *

><p>"Talk about Gothic," Shepard muttered.<p>

"It's actually kind of beautiful," Kasumi said.

"Acting like bloody tourists now, aren't we?" Zaeed said. "Let's stay focused. I'd like to get out of here without being arrested."

"We are getting a few glares from the Templars now, aren't we?" Shepard said.

"_Head up the stairs and to your right,"_ Hawke said. _"The barracks entrance is that small doorway over there."_

"Hold it," a guard said, stopping Shepard. "What business do you have with the guard?"

"I have a letter for a Guardsman Donnic."

"You mean the Acting Captain of the Guard?" The man replied. "I can deliver it for you."

"_Looks like our man Donnic has moved up in the world,"_ Isabella said.

"It's a very personal letter that's best delivered in person," Shepard replied.

"Look, I don't mean to be rude, but we're in the middle of some very tense times here," the guard said. "With the late Meredith evoking Right of Annulment and being killed, the Champion fleeing with the real Captain of the Guard, we're barely holding together as it is. We can't have three people walking around the barracks in a time like these."

"I have to deliver this letter in person. That's what I got hired to do, and if I don't do it, I won't be getting half my pay, and I may never be hired again," Shepard said. "What if I leave my two friends here? Can I quickly step in and give this to him?"

"Well-"

"Please, I have a family to feed," Shepard begged. "This is the only real job I've been able to get in years. My children are going hungry."

"Very well," the guard relented. "But please, make it quick."

"Thank you, messir," Shepard said, walking in.

"_It's 'messere,'"_ Hawke corrected.

"_He fell for the old 'my children are going hungry' bit? He must be new meat,"_ Varric chuckled.

"_That's good. If he was a seasoned guard, he might not have let her in," _Hawke said._ "If Donnic is taking over Aveline's job, he should be in her office to the left at the bottom of the stairs."_

Shepard walked up to the open door, but stopped when she saw Templars inside.

"Listen, _Acting Captain of the Guard_," a Templar growled, inches away from the man who must be Donnic. "We are in the midst of Kirkwall's greatest crisis ever! The Knight-Commander, slain by the Champion's hand, and with the _real_ Captain of the Guard helping him! We need to establish order!"

"And that is what I am trying to do," Donnic shot back. "What you are proposing, no, demanding, is far too radical."

"Crazy sideburns he's got," Shepard muttered to herself.

"What I am demanding is that the City Guard answer to the proper authority," the Templar yelled. "We must consolidate power, or else risk having Kirkwall be torn about by individual needs!"

"Kirkwall will be torn apart by Templar hands if this continues," Donnic said. "I don't remember Acting Knight-Commander Cullen ordering the integration of the Guard."

"Cullen is a fool holding a mere title. Until we can officially declare the replacement for Meredith, he will hold that worthless title, and the city might fall apart if we do not act!"

"'A worthless title?' Should I sent a runner to the Gallows and ask Cullen if he thinks his title is worthless?" Donnic asked. "Here's what I know: with Knight-Commander Meredith dead, you Templars have a gap in power. Cullen officially stepped in to the Knight-Commander's rank, but from what I've been hearing, there are plenty of Templars who want to see themselves in that office. And considering your proposition, you must be with one of the more radical Templars, who think they can do anything and everything by them-bloody-selves.

"You would _never_ be able to run this city by yourselves. You lost too many Templars in the fight, and even with Cullen ordering the Templars back to their most basic of duties, you're spread too thin. Or maybe you're just trying to ruffle my feathers, get me in an angry mood so I don't cooperate with Cullen, making him look like a weak fool, and allowing others to question his capabilities. Either way, you will not be getting my cooperation. Now go back to whatever Templar demigod you serve and tell him the Templars better stick to their duties."

The Templar roughly stormed out of the office.

"_Looks like Donnic is doing a fine job filling his wife's shoes," _Hawke said.

"Excuse me?" Shepard said, knocking on the door frame. "I have a letter for one Guardsman Donnic."

"Fine, come in," Donnic sighed. He fell back into the chair, rubbing his temples. "By Andraste's ashes, how did Aveline ever do this job?"

"She must've been one hell of a woman," Shepard said, handing the letter to him.

"That she is," Donnic said, taking it. "Who's this from?"

"I think it'll be better if you just read it."

Donnic opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. He read the first line and his eyes went wide.

"Where did you get this?" He demanded, sitting upright.

"Keep reading," Shepard said. "It should tell you everything you'll need to know."

"'To my dearest Donnic,'" he read to himself. "'Please know that I am fine and in good health with Hawke. We were fleeing Kirkwall's Templars when we ran into an unexpected ally. I wish that you join me, so we may not loose each other again. Meet with the people who delivered this letter to you at night at the city's exit near Lowtown at night, they will take you to meet me.

"'I know you must think that you will be abandoning your guard. I will not lie to you, my love, but you very well will be. But I cannot bear to think of leaving you in Kirkwall while I am forced to run for my life, especially if your life is in danger just by being married to me or knowing the Champion. The Templars will undoubtedly be looking to imprison or kill any suspected mage sympathizers, and being my husband must put you at the top of their list.

"'Quietly approach Guardsman Richards and tell her that she will have to be the new Acting Captain of the Guard. She is a good woman as well as a guard, and I have been training her to be my assistant before the mage uprising. Please, Donnic, join me. You're loving wife, Aveline.'"

Donnic read the letter over again, surprise still on his face.

"Do you know where she is?" He finally asked Shepard.

"I don't know, messere. I'm only doing what I'm paid to do."

"If you tell me where my wife is, I will double your pay," he said. "Please, I must see her for myself."

"I can't do that," Shepard said. "But if you come with us, we will take you to her."

"I cannot abandon my duty to the city," he said. "You must be able to see that. The Templar order is in chaos, Cullen can hardly keep them together. I'm the only thing standing between this city and complete anarchy. Aveline can't expect me to simply walk away."

"_Tell him she can hardly go an entire meal without worrying about him,"_ Hawke said.

"Donnic, I know you want to do your duty. I can understand that," Shepard said. "But you have a woman who loves you. She's wracked with guilt, she blames herself for leaving you here. Surely you can see that in her letter. Do you love your wife?"

"With every shred of my being."

"And she returns that love to you," Shepard said. "You have to ask yourself if you want to turn his back on your love, or on your life. I'm not going to lie, this will be the toughest decision you ever had to make. Your world is tearing itself apart at the seams. But when the end eventually comes, do you want to be at your desk here, or do you want to be holding you wife in your arms?"

Donnic was quiet as he stared at the letter Aveline had written. He sat there, thinking.

"I'll meet you at Lowtown at night," he finally said.

"We will wait for you," Shepard said. "Bring only what you can carry. And Donnic?"

"Yes?"

"Trust me, you're making the right choice."

"_This will make Aveline very happy," _Hawke said as Shepard walked out the door.

"_Wonderful speech. Very moving," _Mordin said. "_Shepard, are you alright? Your camera went blank."_

Shepard stood outside the door, her eyes screwed shut, trying not to cry.

_Jonathan, you _fuckin_g idiot,_ she thought.

"_Shepard? Come in. We lost your video feed."_

"I'm here," she said, pushing the tears back. "I'm fine, nothing's wrong. Where are we going next?"

"_You'll be going to the High Town market to get the clothes, horse and carriage."_

* * *

><p>The square was full of people, each carrying their own bags of goods. Women wore fabulous dresses and the men were all properly dressed in what appeared to be velvet shirts.<p>

"Talk about a Renaissance fair," Kasumi said. "Keji would have loved it here."

"I feel like a damn fish out of water," Zaeed said tensely. "When can we get out of here?"

"Just take a breath and relax, Zaeed. We're here for the day," Shepard said.

"_Just around that tree should be the clothing shop,"_ Hawke said.

"We're getting strange looks. They're probably sizing us up," Zaeed grumbled as they made their way to the shop. It looked like a small hole-in-the-wall shop, but had a large selection of clothes.

"Good day, messeres," the shop keeper said as they walked in. He looked pleased to see them, until he saw their ill-fitting clothes. A look of disdain quickly replaced his pleased look. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, we're here to buy some clothes," Shepard said.

"May I recommend a merchant in Low Town? They might have something a little more in your price range," the man said.

"You cheeky-" Zaeed started. Shepard silenced him with a firm hand on his shoulder.

"We're traveling merchants, and have plenty of coin. We've just been out and around the country for some time," she said.

"_Jingle your coin purse. That should shut our friend Jean up,"_ Isabella said. Shepard did, and the merchant saw the sizable purse.

"Please forgive my rudeness," he said, returning to his pleased expression. "How can I be of service?"

"We need complete outfits for five people, as well as a Chantry robe for a priestess," Shepard said.

"I can supply you with everything except the mother's robe," the man said. "Unfortunately, I do not have such wares."

"Do you know where we can find someone who sells them?" Kasumi asked.

"I believe Hubart might have a few specialty items," the merchant replied. "I hear he's doing business with the remaining Chantry members these days."

"_Our old friend Hubart! Good to know he's still around to gouge prices," _Hawke chuckled.

"Now what kind of outfits do you need?"

"We'll need adventurous outfits for three women and two men," Shepard said.

"You make your living as traveling merchants?"

"Yep. Just back in Kirkwall to resupply, then out into the wilds."

"Excellent. Step back here and I will take your measurements."

* * *

><p>"See Zaeed? It was painless," Kasumi asked, carrying the outfits out of the shop. "Should we get the horse now?"<p>

"We still got to get that Chantry robe for Tali," Shepard said. "I wonder if this Hubart is as bad as we've heard?"

"_I take it your talking to us?"_ Isabella asked. _"Oh, right, you can't talk right to us."_

"_Hubart is only as bad as you let him be,"_ Hawke said. _"Show that you've got coin to spend, and he should be tolerable."_

"Then let's see if he's as much of a arsehole as the last one," Zaeed said, walking over to the man. "That him?"

"_Yep. Good ol' sell-his-mother-to-make-a-profit Hubart,"_ Varric said. Hubart was selling a sword to a Templar.

"Twenty gold? That's too much," the Templar said. "I just need a sword to spar with."

"Alright, fifteen gold," Hubart said, stroking his thin chin beard. "It is a quality weapon, even for training purposes."

"I'm a member of the Templar Order. Why should I pay that much?"

"Because you want a quality weapon. If you train with a poor weapon, you'll be used to a poor weapon, one that can't take or give real blows. If you get used to that, you will never be able to match your peers in battle, real or not."

"He's a damn good seller," Kasumi said.

"_Just remember that he's a sack of shit,"_ Isabella said. The Templar grudgingly paid the gold and walked away.

"Good day," Hubart said, turning to Shepard.

"Good day," Shepard said. "We heard that you might have a Chantry robe for a mother in the order."

"I might have such a specialty order," he replied. "However, it is hard to keep track of one's special orders, especially when they are in such high demand. Who is asking for it?"

"We're just a few locals, running errands for those holy people," Kasumi said.

"I thought I already helped serve all the surviving members of the Chantry Order," Hubart said.

"_You mean ripping them off?" _Varric chuckled.

"There's always one or two who get away from you," Kasumi said. "The mother survived, but was deeply injured. She might pass away at any moment, and her last wish was to have a fresh robe."

"Hm, of course," Hubart said. "I believe I have one. What size is the mother in question?"

"About my size," Kasumi said, "but with a little more hip."

Hubart opened one of the chests he had on display and pulled out a deep blue robe. A golden sun embroidered the front, and a red sash was pinned to the waist.

"Ah, a perfect match!" He said, comparing the size to Kasumi.

"_Wonder how many 'perfect matches' he has in that chest,"_ Varric muttered.

"I will gladly sell it to the sickly mother for four gold pieces," he said, "a discount to the holy."

"_Four gold pieces? I wouldn't spend more than two on it,"_ Varric said.

"You trying to stiff us?" Zaeed growled, grabbing Hubart by the collar. "Just because we're outsiders?"

"Let go of me, dog! I'll call the guard on you!" Hubart said.

"For what? Not pounding the shit out of you?" Zaeed shot back. "I could go to Low Town and get the same robe for less than two gold! You're trying to con us out of our money!"

"Zaeed, calm down," Shepard said. Zaeed dropped a visibly shaken but very angry Hubart. "Sorry for my friend. He gets a little hot under the collar."

"You will pay for that insult, bitch!" Hubart spat.

"Will we now? How much do you want to bet there are other merchants here who can prove that you're gouging prices? How many customers would back that claim up?" Shepard asked. Hubart was silent. "Thought so. How about this: you charge us two gold for the robe, and I'll donate two more gold for not reporting my friend to the guard, with the promise that we'll leave you alone forever after this day."

"I'll never charge under six gold pieces for the robe!" Hubart said.

"...Or I could let my friend here 'haggle' with you in a dark corner," Shepard said. Zaeed grinned. "Either make four gold, or no gold at all. How about that?"

Hubart stared at Zaeed for a brief second.

"Four gold, and you get out of the city," he said.

"Two gold, a two gold donation to stay quiet, and you'll never see us again," Shepard corrected.

"Deal," Hubart said. "If I see you after today, I report you to the guard."

"Trust us, you'll never see us again," Shepard promised.

* * *

><p>Varric slapped his thigh.<p>

"Oh, Zaeed, you do not fail to disappoint!" He laughed. "Did you see the look on Hubart's face? That alone was worth four gold!"

"You know, three gold would have been a good price for the robe," Hawke said. "Would it really be bad to pay an extra gold piece? We can easily afford it."

"Yea, we could, but I wanted to see Zaeed work his magic again," Varric said. "Now where are they getting the horse from?"

* * *

><p>"<em>Welcome to Low Town,"<em> Hawke said. _"Keep your purses at home."_

"Good to know that slums are the exact same in the medieval time as they are in the modern time," Shepard said to herself.

"Bringing back memories?" Zaeed asked as he drove the horse and carriage through the crowded market.

"Yea, but they're not bad ones," Shepard said. "I actually liked where I grew up. Had the time of my life running with a gang."

"Gangs are always fun. At least until they decide they don't need you anymore, turn your own men against you, and hold you down as they shoot you in the head," Zaeed grumbled.

"Wow, this got depressing," Kasumi said.

"Oh, I'm sorry little-miss-cat-burglar, are you finding me shocking?"

"Cool it, the two of you," Shepard said. "Just a few more hours and we're out of here."

"_Wait a second, turn to your left a little,"_ Varric said. Shepard complied. _"Yea, right there. I'll be damned, that kid is still alive."_

The kid in question was a red head who Shepard thought couldn't be any older than fifteen years old. He was counting the gold pieces of a very large purse.

"_Who's alive?"_ Isabella asked.

"_Don't know his name; he's just a regular slum kid,"_ Varric said. _"Never met a kid who was so good at picking pockets, yet still so dumb. Just look at him, counting his riches in front of everyone. And I thought the little fucker was dumb when he tried to pick me a few days before the mage shit went down."_

"_What happened?"_ Hawke asked.

"_Tripped him. He fell down some stairs and broke his nose."_

"_Sure he did."_

"_Honest, he just fell down some stairs!"_ Varric said. The kid put the gold pieces away and looked up, eyeing Shepard. _"Careful, he sees you guys. Hands on your pockets, he might try something."_

The kid got up from the street corner and started weaving through the crowd.

"Lost sight of him," Shepard said. "Everyone, keep your eyes peeled."

A group of kids suddenly burst from an alley, throwing a ball. They ran right by the cart, yelling and screaming.

"_Hey, he actually used a blind this time. He might actually be getting smarter," _Varric said. _"He steal anything from you?"_

"I still got my purse," Shepard said.

"I'm on the other side of the cart. He can't lift me," Zaeed said.

"Don't worry, he just lifted me," Kasumi said.

"He stole _your_ purse? I thought you were better than that," Zaeed said.

"Oh, I am," Kasumi said, holding up a purse than was much larger the one she originally had. "Lifted his as he lifted mine. And his purse is definitely heavier."

Shepard looked for the kid. He stopped at the end of the block, holding Kasumi's purse. Grinning, he reached for his own, only to find it gone. Shocked, he spun around, trying to find it. He looked up and saw Kasumi waving his purse as they passed him.

"Clever girl," Zaeed said approvingly.

"Maybe that'll teach him a thing or two," Kasumi grinned. "So all that's left are weapons?"

"Yep," Shepard said. "Hopefully we can find a place with good deals."

"_Say no more, Shepard. I know the place," _Hawke said. _"Turn left, and just behind the house is a good weapon smith. He's a dwarf, so he'll have good weapons."_

"You there, scar face!" A dwarf yelled at Zaeed. "Looks like you know your way around a weapon. And I've got some of the finest in Kirkwall!"

"_That's our man,"_ Hawke said.

"Let's see what you got," Zaeed said, stopping the cart. "It really _is_ easy to drive these damn horses."

"What are you interested in, my good man?" The dwarf asked.

"Swords and shields," Zaeed said. "Maybe a great big sword for myself."

"Buying for an expedition of some sort?"

"Just a few merchants who need to protect themselves," Zaeed replied.

"I think I've got just what you're looking for," the dwarf said. He laid out seven short swords and four shields. "See any that strike your fancy?"

Shepard picked up a sword with a curved blade. The metal was blackened, and barely reflected any light.

"Ah, the Darktown Blade! Fine pick, m'lady!" The dwarf said.

"_Now that's a good looking blade. Think I may have used it once or twice,"_ Hawke said.

"Looks like a good blade," Shepard nodded. "We're looking to spend some coin today. Will you give us a discount if we buy six swords and shields from you?"

"Six? Of each?"

"Yes."

"Lady, I just might close early today because of you," the dwarf grinned. "How about I'll knock ten gold off the entire purchase?"

"_As good a deal you'll get from a dwarf,"_ Varric said.

"I'll take it," Shepard said.

"Excellent! That'll be twenty-seven gold, eight silver and ten bronze."

"How about that big old ax right there?" Zaeed asked, pointing.

"Oh, messere, you have a mighty fine eye," the dwarf said. "That's a recent acquisition. My sources tell me that is an ax called 'Bloom.' My sources tell me it was the ax that killed Ser Austice, wielded once by by the Reaver Shius."

"_What did he say?" _Hawke asked.

"_Called the ax 'Bloom.' That was Fenris' old ax," _Varric said.

"'Reaver Shius?' Sounds like a right nasty fellow," Zaeed said.

"Was he ever. You know those Reavers, they get hard thinking about death. Have you heard the song?"

"Can't say I have."

The dwarf cleared his voice.

"Our hero strode the winding road, / Defiant of the vile. / Uncertain pause for home and cause, / When met the monster's smile. / A man his kin through blood and sin, / a bastard of the gloom. / A rising cut through bone and gut, / and awful skyward bloom."

"Chilling," Kasumi said.

"Now feel the ax," the dwarf said, handing it to Zaeed.

"God, it's freezing!"

"The cold feeling of death," the merchant said.

"_The thieving bastard stole that ax before Fenris got cold, and now he has the nerve to steal that crappy line," _Varric said.

"I'll take it," Zaeed said, ignoring Varric. "How much?"

"For a fearful warrior such as yourself? Ten gold."

Zaeed plunked down ten gold pieces.

"Pleasure doing business with you," the dwarf said, half bowing. "If you don't get killed, come back to my shop."

"You and your big weapons," Shepard said.

"I like how it looks," Zaeed grinned. "'Bloom,' eh? I think I like this thing."

* * *

><p>Night was falling as they made their way to the Low Town exit.<p>

"Think our boy will show?" Zaeed asked.

"He's going to show," Shepard said.

"What if he flakes out and tries to arrest us?"

"Calm down, Zaeed. He wants to see his wife, and he's going to show."

"I'm putting a lot of faith into you, Shepard."

"When has Shepard failed us?" Kasumi asked.

"What can I say? I like to please people," Shepard said.

"Hold up, we're not alone," Kasumi said. Donnic, still wearing the armor of the guard, rounded the corner. He carried a simple pack of clothes. Following him was a small guardwoman.

"Are these the people?" The woman asked.

"Yes, they are," Donnic said. "Guardsman Richards, I ask you to carry a terrible burden. The Templars will want to take over the guard. You must not let them."

"I'll do my best," the woman saluted. "Aveline didn't teach me everything, but she taught me well enough."

"Good," Donnic said. "Return to the barrics. You are now Acting Captain of the Guard."

The woman saluted again and left.

"I can't believe I'm going to do this," Donnic sighed. "May I join you?"

"Hope in," Shepard said. "But you might want to hide from the Templars at the gate."

"Already thought of that," Donnic said. He climbed into the cart and covered himself with a blanket. "Tell me when we're out of sight."

Shepard nodded to Zaeed, who lashed the horses forward. They clattered out of the city gate, and a Templar glared at Zaeed.

"Careful, I hear there are bandits who love killing wise arses," the guarding Templar said.

"You're still angry about this morning? Christ, you women sure can hold a grudge," Zaeed said. The three city guards laughed again at the Templar. "See? Just got to show them who's boss."

"I'll have to keep that in mind," Shepard said. "Looks like we're out of sight. Shepard to Normandy, you reading me over there?"

"_I hear you, Shepard,"_ Mordin replied._ "Our friends are out eating dinner."_

"Speaking of which, I'm hungry," Kasumi said.

"We have Donnic and the supplies, and we're returning to the Normandy. We should be there in a few hours," Shepard said.

"_I'll tell Aveline."_

"Good. Donnic is going to be in for a surprise. Shepard out."

"Who were you talking to?" Donnic asked, sitting up.

"Don't worry about it," Shepard said. "We have a few hours until we're at our camp. We're going to get you up to date on what's going to happen."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"Maker, what have I done? I'm traveling with a pack of loonies," Donnic said. "Why did I ever let you talk me into abandoning Kirkwall?"

"You'll have to trust us when we say we did this for your wife," Shepard said.

"Blight it, you could have imitated her handwriting. Why did I ever agree to this?"

"I know this is a shock to you, but you have to trust us," Kasumi said. "You're lucky. You're getting a chance to see your wife again. I didn't get that chance when my Keji died."

"I'm sorry for your loss, but you're out of your mind! All of you!" Donnic said. "Ships that travel through space? Living among the stars? And these...'aliens?' You must be blood mages, consorting with demons!"

"Then why haven't you left us yet?" Shepard asked. "You've had plenty of chances. Why haven't you jumped off this cart and ran back to Kirkwall?"

Donnic was quiet.

"It's because you want to see your wife again," Shepard continued. "Just bear with us a little longer, and you'll get to see her."

"Why did I ever agree to this madness?" Donnic mumbled.

The cart rounded the final bend, and Zaeed stopped the horses.

"About bloody time we're here," he grumbled. "I swear, it took eons while playing twenty questions with this moron."

"And now it's done. Calm down," Shepard said.

"Well? Where is she? All I see is a blocked path," Donnic said.

"Shepard to Mordin, is our welcome mat ready?" Shepard said, bringing up her omni-tool.

"Maker! What is that thing?" Donnic said.

"It's all as we told you," Kasumi said. "Starting to believe us?"

The holographic rock wall shimmered, then disappeared. Standing where the wall used to be was Aveline.

"Aveline? Is that you?" Donnic said. "This isn't some kind of trick by blood mages or demons, is it?"

"It's me, Donnic," Aveline smiled. "It's really me."

"Better give these two their privacy," Shepard said. "Zaeed? Bring us to the ship."

"Go get her, lover boy," Kasumi said, playfully pushing Donnic out of the cart.

* * *

><p>Zaeed drove the cart back to the Normandy. Shepard wasn't surprised to see most of the crew and Hawke's group still sitting at the made-shift dining table.<p>

"And our brave supply runners return!" Hawke said. "How did you like our fair city of Kirkwall?"

"Not bad," Zaeed said, bringing the cart to a stop.

"'Not bad?' It was really nice," Kasumi said, jumping off. "All the people, the hustle and bustle, I actually didn't miss not having technology."

"I'll talk about it over dinner," Shepard said. "What's on the menu?"

"Chicken and dumplings. Rupert is spoiling us," Jacob said.

"A stick-to-your-ribs dinner, huh? He really is pulling out the stops," Shepard grinned.

"Not a bad getup, boss lady," Jack said, grinning. "Thinking about being Shepard the Peasant?"

"If I'm a peasant, that'll make you Jack the Madwoman," Shepard replied.

"And that's different from how Jack usually is how?" Jacob asked.

"You say 'madwoman' like it's a bad thing," Jack said.

"This might just be me talking because I don't know Jack, but if she was a madwoman, she'd be screaming about the end of time at the top of her lungs," Varric said. "Trust me, you're not the kind of madwoman we know."

"Be grateful for that," Isabella added.

"So what did I miss here?" Shepard asked, getting a bowl of food.

"It took a little bit of work, but Garrus and I finished modifying three rifles, as well as making a few assault rifles into mounted turrets," Jacob said. "He's running a final check on them now."

"You made mounted turrets?" Zaeed asked.

"Water cooling the guns works better, but shoots portability to hell. So we made three full-auto assault rifles into one mounted turret. You know, in case you run into a real big problem," Jacob said.

"Sounds good to me," Zaeed grinned.

"And I've planned out our little trip to the Deep Roads," Hawke said. "Hopefully we'll only be gone a week or two."

"Better pack for three," Shepard said. "Especially if they're as dangerous as you make them out to be."

"That they are, I promise you that," Hawke said.

"How long will it take to fix everything up?" Shepard asked.

"Maybe another few weeks. We really pulled out all the stops to fix the Normandy up right now."

"Is that Aveline and Donnic?" Hawke asked. "They sure made up fast."

Shepard turned around, and sure enough, saw Aveline and Donnic walking back to the ship, holding hands.

"Maker, you weren't lying when you said they had a metal ship," Donnic gasped.

"Trust me, this is the least shocking thing they have," Aveline said. "Shepard? Are there any aliens outside right now?"

"Jacob?"

"No, they're all inside the ship, working on modifications, plans and whatnot," Jacob replied.

"Good. Our man Donnic probably would like to take things slow and meet one alien at a time," Shepard said.

"I would appreciate that, messere Shepard," Donnic said, slightly bowing.

"Please, just call me 'Shepard.' Everyone does," she replied. "I need to call a meeting, and that would mean calling out all the aliens. You're free to make yourself at home in our campsite, or you can get a look at some of the aliens so you won't freak out when you're rubbing shoulders with them."

* * *

><p>"So we have a few guns, food supply, a cart, local clothes, and a map of the Deep Roads," Shepard said. Standing in front of her were her entire team as well as Hawke's group. "Is there anything else we're missing?"<p>

"Be sure to bring comm line signal boosters. Would probably loose connections underground otherwise," Mordin said. "Need to maintain communication at all times."

"I'll see if I can scratch up some boosters," Tali said. "I'll probably need to cannibalize more of the Normandy to do it, though."

"Take what you need. We'll work on getting the Normandy into flight shape once we have our fuel," Shepard said.

"I can't think of anything else we might need, Commander," Miranda said.

"Samara? Any advice you might have?"

"These 'Deep Roads' are equally foreign to me, Shepard," Samara replied. "The most advice I can offer as a Justicar is 'stay vigilant.'"

"And keep your guns loaded at all time," Grunt said. "Shepard, are you sure you don't want any of us to come along?"

"As much as we need you, Hawke brought up a good point: we need to maintain a low profile on our way to and from the Deep Roads," Shepard said. "We're risking Tali as it is, but we need an engineerto fix things, as well as to scan for seams of lyrium."

"What if we take the shuttle to the Deep Roads entrance?" Garrus asked. "We could avoid the locals that way, and get to the entrance quicker."

"The shuttle can't go invisible, and it's not very quiet," Jacob said. "All we need is for one group of people to look up, see where we're going, follow us, and then they'll probably attack us on sight for being 'abominations.'"

"Sorry Garrus, but Tali will be the only extraterrestrial on this mission," Shepard said. "But this doesn't mean you'll have the easy way out. You'll be in charge of scoping out any other locals that might show up. Save as much ammo as you can, and try to avoid lethal force."

"Will do."

"Mordin, you're going to be our spotter. I want you on our comm lines twenty-four-seven, providing intelligence as we go."

"Understood."

"Legion, you're in charge of fixing up the Normandy as much as you can while we're gone."

"Roger, Shepard-Commander."

"The rest of you will be helping Legion, Mordin or Garrus as they need you. Anything else?"

"There is one thing," Hawke said, speaking up. "Those swords you got might be mostly for show, but we should still train you to use them just in case you have to. Don't want you chopping off your own arms trying to fight."

"I don't think that's really necessary," Shepard said.

"You said that you can't use your technology before we get into the Deep Roads, right?" Hawke said. "Well, what if we run into raiders on the way to the Deep Roads? You'll need to know how to use a sword."

"That's a fair point, Commander," Jacob said. "Even if it's just the basics, any sort of training would be good. Besides, we didn't have enough time to modify more weapons; we'll need every advantage we can get."

"You would agree to weapon training, wouldn't you?" Shepard said. Jacob shrugged, grinning. "How long will this training take?"

"Aveline and I will give you the quick version. Maybe a day or so," Hawke said.

"Well, the sooner we start, the sooner we can get out of here. Let's start in a few minutes."

* * *

><p>Lights were pulled from the Normandy and set up along the side of the ship. Turned on, they flooded the rocky area with light.<p>

"Now you make the night into day," Hawke said, walking up with his sword and shield. "What next?"

"Stick around, you'll see we're full of surprises," Shepard said.

"Now it's our turn to show off," Aveline said. "Alright! As of now, you are all recruits! And recruits have a habit of dying. We need to get you to be soldiers, not recruits. Follow our instructions, and you just might survive this trip of ours!"

"Ma'am! Yes ma'am!" Jacob barked. Shepard couldn't tell if he was patronizing her or not.

"That's what I like to hear," Aveline yelled. "Now, first lesson, holding the shield properly. You need to have it squarely facing the enemy, tight at your body, like this. This is the basic guard. Closer to your body, Miranda! Come on, the shield isn't going to bite you!"

Blushing, Miranda readjusted her grip on the shield.

"That's better. Now, for the basic attack, a thrust! Turn the shield just enough to get the sword out, aim for the enemy's navel, and push through it with all your might. Now, pull the blade back quickly, and return the shield to the basic guard position. Ready! Shields up, turn, stab, back, guard! Again! Guard, turn, stab, back, guard! Put more force into it, Tali. The darkspawn don't want to be your friend, they want to make a pin cushion out of you. Return the feeling to them!"

Aveline and Hawke walked down the practice line. Feeling Hawke's eyes on her, Shepard gripped her new sword and pushed forward with all her might.

"Now, now, calm down," Hawke said, walking up to her. "You don't want to attack like that, you'll throw yourself off balance. Try not to move your feet too much. A little slide is good, but you're lunging. Push with your arms, don't lead with your legs."

Shepard readjusted her stance and performed a thrust.

"Better," Hawke said. "Now repeat it until it's muscle memory."

Shepard snorted a chuckle as Hawke walked away.

"And halt!" Aveline called. "You're lucky this is a fast-paced course; you get to skip the hundred-plus repetitions. Now, for a basic two-slice attack. Shields in basic guard. With your lead foot, take a slight step forward, and raise your sword above your head. Keep those shields up! Now, as you bring the shield to the side, bring the sword down in a diagonal line, shoulder to hip. Once the tip of the sword is near the ground, turn the blade to face the enemy.

"With your back foot, take a step forward and bring the blade back up, stopping when the shield is at the basic guard position. Remember, don't take too big of a step, or you'll be off balance. Now, guard! Swords up, step, slash, reverse blade, step, slash, guard! And repeat!"

Miranda groaned, trying to move her shield.

"Let me guess, your arm is burning," Aveline said. Miranda nodded. "That's good, it means you're working the muscles. Keep at it and you'll start having muscles that are actually tough. Keep at it!"

"Said the she-hulk," Miranda muttered.

"I heard that, recruit," Aveline said, slowly turning around. "Think I'm stupid, that I wouldn't know what you're saying? Or deaf, that I wouldn't hear it in the first place? Stand by the ship, and hold your shield at the basic guard until I tell you to stop. And don't even think about holding it with both hands or letting it touch the ground."

* * *

><p>"Ha! Knew she'd be the first one to wimp out!" Grunt laughed.<p>

"Good thing I'm not gambling with you. Dammit, I thought Tali would've washed out first," Isabella said, sitting by the Normandy. She handed ten silver to Varric.

"Come on, Miranda has 'plush' written all over her. Did you honestly thing she'd last?" Varric asked.

"I didn't think she'd wash out before Tali. She's always got her face, er, mask in that 'technology' stuff. I thought she'd be a bookworm."

"Quarians are tougher than you'd think. It'd actually take a bit to stab them," Grunt said.

"Really? Even though they might die if they get sick?" Varric asked.

"Surprising, isn't it? For humans, it'd take less than a finger to sever their spine," Grunt said, holding up a finger to prove his point. "For Quarians, it'd take at least two fingers."

"That's...fascinating," Varric said, grimacing. He turned to Isabella, who was also squirming in her seat. "Ten silver says Shepard falls on her face. She's taking way too big of a step."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Aveline, what about me?" Zaeed asked, leaning on his ax.<p>

"First off, you could show more respect to the weapon than leaning on it," Aveline said, walking up to him. "With a big ax like that, you'll have to work on parrying attacks with the shaft. We'll work on that later. For now, your basic attack, vertical and horizontal. Take a big grip on the shaft, wind up, and swing it. Let your dominate hand slide down and meet your other hand at the pummel.

"Once the head of the ax is just in front of you, start pulling back with your left hand, bringing the ax head to your right hand. That's it. For a vertical strike, take a big grip, rise it above your head, and bring it down, letting your right hand slide to your left hand. Now practice that a few times, horizontal then vertical."

"Alright, recruits, now it's time for some shield attacks," Hawke said. "The shied isn't just to protect you, you can also smash someone's face in with it. Now, the basic shield attack works like this: cock your shield arm back like you're going to punch them, take a slight step forward with your back foot, and bring the shield forward, just like you're punching. Focus on hitting the enemy squarely on the nose with the edge of the shield.

"Now, once your arm is about halfway out, start bringing it back into your body. You'll end up with your shield arm firmly wrapped across your body. This is the second part of the shield attack. Take a slight step forward with your normal lead foot, twist your hips, and bring your arm back around, like your slapping your enemy."

Panting for breath, Shepard slowly mimicked Hawke. Her arm trembled with exertion, and her shield wobbling in front of her.

"Thought you star people were in better shape than this," Hawke chuckled, walking up to her.

"We're in great shape," Shepard insisted, "we're just not use to using swords and shields. This is working out muscles we're not use to using."

"That's a fair point. You want to know a secret?" Hawke asked, walking up to her.

"Please," Shepard gasped.

"Here, twist your shoulders as you punch the shield out," Hawke said. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he gently pushed to demonstrate the motion. "Now, to cheat a little, don't really extend your arm. Keep it locked in position, and let your body do most of the twisting. Here."

Hawke gently held Shepard's arm as he walked her through the motion. Even though Shepard was sweating, Hawke's hands were warm and firm. She could feel his chest gently pressed against her back as he showed her the motion again. He let go, and Shepard mimicked the motion again.

"That's it," Hawke said, smiling. "You're really getting the hang of it."

"You're teaching me how to cheat," Shepard laughed back.

"Well, as long as it doesn't kill you," Hawke chuckled. "Keep practicing, and we might make you're a warrior yet."

* * *

><p>Shepard and her group set their shields down. Their shirts were drenched in sweat, despite the cool sea breeze coming in off the coast.<p>

"So, what did you think?" Aveline asked.

"I think they're getting the hang of it," Hawke said. "A little more practice, and they'll be just like the city guard recruits."

"That's what worries me," she said.

"What worries you?" Shepard asked, walking over. She took a long drink from a water bottle.

"Shepard, I appreciate your dedication to learning how to use a sword and shield, but you're just not going to have enough experience or practice for when we go to the Deep Roads. That place was the grave for much more advanced warriors than you."

"It won't be the first time I've faced death," Shepard said. Hawke thought he caught a fleeting emotion cross her face, but it was over before he could read it.

"Are you sure you don't want to take more of our people with us? Varric is an uncanny shot, and Isabella could help us tear down the tougher darkspawn," Aveline said.

"We're already taking too many people into the Deep Roads," Shepard said. "If we bring more, it would mean more food we'd have to carry, more equipment we'd have to bring."

"But you and your people can barely parry a blow!"

"That's why we're bringing our guns with us," Shepard said. "Jacob and Garrus have worked out several gun modifications. If the darkspawn show up with a bunch of men, we'll gun them down."

"You're just being cavalier," Aveline said. "I'm trying to save your lives!"

"And we're trying to get home!"

"Ladies, please, let's take a breather," Hawke said, holding up his hands and standing between the two women. "We've talked about this before, but just to make sure, let's talk about it again in the morning, okay?"

Aveline looked at Hawke.

"I've always trusted you Hawke, but I hope you know what you're doing right now," she said before she walked away."

"She always this caring?" Shepard asked.

"Yes. Sometimes it actually hurts!"

Shepard laughed. "It's good to know you have such close friends."

"What are you talking about? You have an equally close group."

"We're pretty close, but we haven't been together as long as you have," Shepard said. "Even with Tali, Garrus, Joker and Dr. Chakwas, we've only known each other for a few years."

"Those must have been some interesting years, flying around the stars with aliens."

"Well, not really," Shepard said quietly.

"What? Did something happen?" Hawke asked.

Shepard wondered how much to tell Hawke. Sighing, she decided to tell him everything.

"I, well, died," she said. "We were attacked by a mysterious ship, and I was killed."

"You were killed," Hawke said skeptically.

"Yes, no heartbeat, no brain waves, nothing," Shepard said. "Cerberus, that's the group that built and owns the Normandy, got my body and found a way to bring me back to life. Miranda was the one who ran the project. It took two years to revive me."

"I don't want to insult you, but I'm sure they didn't bring you back for your good looks," Hawke said.

"Hardly," Shepard chuckled. "I'm a kind of hero in my galaxy. I saved the galaxy from something called the Reapers. They're sort of like evil golems, bent on killing all life in the galaxy. Cerberus, Miranda's employer, brought me back to life to fight them again."

"That's an insane tale," Hawke said. "If I didn't just teach an alien how to sword fight, I'd call you hopelessly mad."

"What would you call me now?" Shepard asked.

"I'm not sure. Maybe mad still, as you're bent on going into the Deep Roads with only two real warriors and two mages."

"And a lot of guns. Can't forget that. Say, you want to learn how to shoot one?"

"You're serious?"

"You're teaching us how to use swords, it's only fair you get to learn how to use guns."

"Even thought you were talking about 'not disrupting our way of life' and all that?"

"We're already messing up your way of life. You're teaching an alien sword play."

"Touché."

"Come on, I'll show you," Shepard said, leading Hawke to the Normandy's hanger. "Garrus! How does the calibrations?"

"I'm triple checking them right now," Garrus said, setting down a rifle. "How's the sword fighting going?"

"Pretty well, I think," Shepard said. "Mind if I grab a rifle and show Hawke how to shoot?"

"Messing with the local's way of life, aren't you Shepard?" Garrus laughed.

"It's already messed up," Shepard shrugged.

"Good point." Garrus handed her a rifle. "Besides, I could always use a guinea pig to see if the calibrations are working."

"Glad to help," Shepard smiled back. "Nice fore-grip. So you don't have to hold the gun near the heat sink, right? Oh, and the heat sinks _are_ on tighter?"

"And in more places," Garrus replied. "Should be able to handle everything you throw at it. Try not to shoot your eye out."

"Sage advice, Garrus," Shepard said. "Come on, Hawke. Let's see how you like our 'magical technology.'"

"Have to admit, I'm a little scared," Hawke said.

"You'll get used to it." Shepard walked out to the boulders behind the Normandy. "Here, hold the rifle. This is the stock. You place it against your shoulder, like this. You are right handed, right?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then put the stock against your shoulder. Your right hand grabs the grip and finger goes into the trigger guard. Your left hand holds the gun at this, the fore-grip."

"Hold it like this?"

"Yep," Shepard said. Standing behind Hawke, she adjusted his grip and stance. "Now, look down the sights, right here. See the little piece of metal sticking up at the end of the gun? Line that up with the two blocks here. You're all aimed. Now slowly pull the trigger. Fire in the hole!"

Cautiously, Hawke pulled the trigger. The gun went off and he jumped.

"That's okay, everyone jumps their first time," Shepard said. "See that red mark on the boulders? That's where your shot was."

"I think I'm getting this," Hawke chuckled nervously.

"That's the spirit. Now, try shooting again."

With Shepard at his back, holding his arms to correct his posture, Hawke took four more experimental shots. The gun shot, bucked and rang. By the fourth shot, he wasn't as jumping as much.

"Getting the hang of it?" Shepard asked, inches from his ear.

"Yes, I think I am," Hawke said. "Next thing you'll know, I'll be a master at your magical technology."

"You've got a long way to go," Shepard laughed.

"Thank you, Shepard. This was terrifying and surprisingly fun."

"No problem."

"Now you better get to sleep. You're going to be one giant cramp with Aveline's training."

"This takes me back to basic training," Shepard said. "See you in the morning, Hawke."

* * *

><p>Aveline's training felt like it was going on for years. Shepard guessed Aveline was doing a good job if she was suffering this much.<p>

"Break! Get some water," Aveline said.

"How are we doing?" Jacob asked.

"You're all coming along," Aveline replied. "You think you have a good hold on the basics?"

"I think I do. Not too sure about everyone else," Jacob said.

"Just because you're already in good shape, don't think you'll have an easy time in a fight," Hawke said.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Shepard, we've done as good as a job as we could. When do you want to leave?" Aveline asked.

"Let's leave in the afternoon," Shepard said, taking a big drink of water. "That way, we should reach the Deep Roads entrance by evening, we'll camp out there and enter in the morning."

"I can't believe I'm going back there again," Aveline said.

"I'm sorry you have to leave Donnic this soon. Are you sure you don't want to sit this one out?" Shepard asked.

"And who will keep you alive? I might loathe it, but I want to go," Aveline said.

"I appreciate this, Aveline. I really do," Shepard said.

"Just remember to take smaller steps when attacking," Aveline said. "Now get some breakfast."

Shepard drained her water bottle and walked to the front of the camp. Garrus, Grunt, Donnic and four Cerberus crew were loading up the chart.

"Getting used to the aliens, Donnic?" Shepard asked.

"If I have to stay here for weeks, I might as well get used to meeting them," he said.

"He's actually doing a good job, too," Garrus said. "Only called me an abomination once."

"I did not!"

"I'm joking, Donnic."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Garrus is just giving you a hard time," Shepard said. "Don't worry about it."

"I'll try not to let it get to me," Donnic said.

"We're all packed up here?" Shepard asked.

"Just loading up the food," Garrus said. "We hid the turret underneath this barrel. Pull it off, cycle the guns, and you're ready to go. Also, Grunt and I gave you a couple unmodified rifles and shotguns, in case the shit really hits the fan. Legion even lent us his Widow."

"And I'm giving you my Claymore," Grunt said. "Try not to break it."

"Thanks, Grunt."

"You're my krantt, Shepard; I trust you. Just don't do anything stupid and don't die," Garrus said, thumping her on the shoulder.

"Good to know you care," Shepard said. "Now let's get something to eat."

They walked back to the dining tables at the Normandy. Shepard was surprised to see Joker sitting at the table.

"Joker! You're better?" She asked.

"Not quite one-hundred percent, but well enough," Joker replied. "Got a visit from an Anders and Bethany last night. They did some voodoo stuff, and now I'm almost completely healed."

"The wonders of magic," Garrus said, sitting down.

"No kidding. Kinda wish they were around whenever I broke a bone. I'd be back on my feet in no time," Joker said. "You're seriously going through with this?"

"We have to, Joker."

"I know we do, but you were never the one to willingly go on suicide missions." Shepard grimaced. "I thought the Collector mission was the last time you'd risk your life that way, but here you are."

"I don't like it any more than you do, but we have to get back home. We have to be there to fight the Reapers."

"You're not letting someone step up to the plate?"

"I'm not sure we can rely on anyone else until it's too late," Shepard said. "Look at how the Council was trying to pretend like Sovereign never happened."

"Never rely on the less prepared," Grunt said. "They'll always disappoint you."

"Commander, try to come back alive, okay?" Joker said.

"You know me, I'll find a way," she said.

* * *

><p>"Keelah, this is a sloppy fit," Tali said, putting the robe on.<p>

"I got a little bigger size than I thought you were," Kasumi said. "Now all Merrill has to do is make the right adjustments, and you've got a good robe."

"It looks good on you," Merrill said. "It really brings out the blue in your mask."

"Good to know I won't be unfashionable," Tali chuckled. "Are you sure this thing is on right?"

"Quite," Merrill said. "There, all done. A perfect fit!"

"Thanks," Tali said.

"I'm a little jealous," Kasumi said. "This corset is a little loose on me."

"I think it looks good," Shepard said, pulling on her own tunic.

"I think I'd rather get that chain mail shirt you have. That'll have a little more protection," Kasumi said.

"I'm just glad I got some clothes that blend in," Miranda said.

"Said the women wearing a leather skirt," Kasumi said. "You're going to catch a few eyes walking around in that."

"We'll argue about fashion later. Let's see if the boys are ready," Shepard said, leaving the bathroom.

"This is such a strange ship," Merrill said. "I'm glad you let me in, but why did you?"

"We're going to be gone for at least three weeks. Might as well give you the tour now and let you wander around," Shepard said. Zaeed and Jacob walked out of the men's restroom. Zaeed wore a beaten-up breastplate and leather trousers while Jacob had a metal studded leather shirt and pants.

"Feel like I'm a goddamn actor," Zaeed grumbled.

"At least we don't have to wear stage makeup," Jacob pointed out.

"Oh, stop your grumbling," Kasumi said cheerfully. "We're going on an adventure! Try to look a little excited!"

"Let's just get this done and over with," Zaeed said, walking to the elevator. Once outside, the group walked to the fully loaded chart. Hawke, Aveline, Anders and Bethany were already waiting for them, along with most of the crew.

"Ready?" Hawke asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Shepard said.

"Then grab your swords and shields and let's go," Aveline said. She turned to Donnic, giving him a hug and a kiss.

"Come back for me," Donnic said.

"I'll come back even if I have to fight an army of darkspawn," Aveline replied.

"Maker, I can't believe I'm going back to the damn Deep Roads," Anders grumbled.

"They can't be that bad, can they?" Bethany asked.

"Trust me, they're worse."

"Mordin, our comms good to go?" Shepard asked.

"We're all good. Tali came through as promised. Signal boosters would work perfectly," Mordin said.

"Good. Then let's head out."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"This is such a beautiful planet," Tali said, sitting in the cart.

"Glad you approve," Hawke said. "We try to keep it in order for visitors."

"Tali, pull your hood up," Aveline said. "We're getting closet to a traveling road. Don't want anyone thinking you're a demon."

Tali pulled her hood over her mask, and with a few short tugs, the hood covered her head entirely.

"Can't even tell the difference," Bethany said.

"That the road up there?" Zaeed asked.

"Yes, we're almost halfway there," Anders said.

"Whoa there!"

Hawke looked up. A cart was riding towards them on the road. Two people were sitting in the cart.

"Shit. Cover up," he said, pulling on his own hood. "Hopefully they won't recognize us. Shepard, you speak for us."

"Hello there," Shepard yelled, waving.

"Want to do any trading?" The man in front of the approaching wagon was a dwarf. "My son and I have got good things to sell, and we need to get rid of it, so we can give you a discount."

"We've barely said a word and you're already giving us a discount? You trying to push things off on us?" Kasumi asked. "How much of your stuff is illicit?"

"Please, madam, I'm just a simple trader, trying to make his way in the world," the dwarf replied. "I'm just trying to earn enough money to get to Orlais."

"Look! Hawk man!" The second dwarf said, pointing to Hawke.

"Sandal, don't bother the travelers," the man said.

"Wait a second," Hawke said, pulling down his hood. "Bodahn, Sandal, is that you?"

"Messere Hawke? My goodness, it is you!" The dwarf said. "I thought you would have fled back to Ferelden by now!"

"Well, things happen," Hawke said, walking up to shake hands with Bodahn. "Is Orana with you?"

"I'm right here, messere Hawke." From the back of the cart, Orana stood up. "It's good to see you again."

"The poor dear didn't have anywhere to go," Bodahn said. "She was near tears when we said we were leaving, so I told her to come along."

"Bodahn is very kind to let me come with him," Orana said. "Even when I'm not that much use."

"Please, Orana, you don't give yourself enough credit. Besides, Sandal loves it when you play the flute."

"Flute!" Sandal said.

"She is good, isn't she, my boy?" Bodahn said.

"It's good to see you again," Aveline said, pulling down her own hood. "What are you and Sandal doing out here?"

"Since you started the mage rebellion, Kirkwall has been tearing itself apart again," Bodahn said. "We wanted to leave days ago, but the Templars wouldn't let us. When they did let us go, we grabbed everything we had and left. Didn't have time to properly sell everything. We might not have enough coin to get to Orlais."

"Why? What happened?" Aveline asked.

"The Templars were harassing us to no end. They think we knew where you were headed. They even interrogated Sandal."

"Maker, is he alright?" Hawke asked.

"Oh, Sandal was fine. Hungry, yes, but the Templars questioning him were about to tear their hair out of frustration."

"Those men were angry," Sandal said.

"That they were, Sandal. That they were. Don't you worry, though. We won't see any more of them when we get to Orlais. May I ask who your new friends are?"

"You may," Hawke said. "Bodahn, Sandal, Orana, this is Shepard, Jacob, Miranda, Kasumi, Zaeed, and, oh, Tali."

"It is so good to see another priestess survive that horrible attack," Bodahn said, bowing to Tali.

"Um, right," Tali said, shifting in the cart. "Yes, I was very lucky. The—er, Maker must've really liked me."

"She's sickly," Sandal said, pointing to Tali.

"Now, now, Sandal, it's not nice to point," Bodahn said. "Forgive my son, he's a little simple. Was overexposed to lyrium in the Deep Roads."

"How did he know I was 'sickly?'" Tali whispered to Shepard.

"I don't know," Shepard said. "Maybe he's some kind of savant? Mordin would love to examine him."

"Where are you headed, messere? We can join you. Traveling is best done in company, you know," Bodahn said.

"Bodahn, you don't want to follow us," Hawke said. "We're taking another mission to the Deep Roads."

"Maker, why would you go back there?" Bodahn said. "Especially with all the darkspawn."

"Shepard has, um, hired us to go with her and get raw lyrium," Hawke said.

"And you agreed to help her?"

"Let's just say this is to make us even."

"How so?"

"Shepard and her people helped shelter us from the Templars when we were fleeing ourselves," Hawke said. "This is the only way we can repay her."

"All for a fistful of lyrium," Bodahn said. "Well, would you mind if we follow, messere Shepard?"

"Everyone always talks about how dangerous the Deep Roads are, yet they're so willing to take a day trip down there," Shepard mused.

"Well, if you're going to get raw lyrium, we might as well find some ourselves," Bodahn said. "My boy Sandal makes wonderful enchantments."

"Enchantment!" Sandal yelled.

"Yes, he does wonderful work. Somehow, one of his enchantments made its way to the Orlesian Empress, and she wants to hire Sandal to do her own enchantments! Can you believe that? But we had to leave Kirkwall in such a rush, I'm afraid we forgot plenty of things. If we can get some lyrium from the Deep Roads, Sandal can make more enchantments, and we can pay our own way to Orlais."

"Commander, I don't think it would be wise to take any more people with us," Jacob said. "We won't have enough food to feed them."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about food," Orana said. "I made sure we had enough."

"We're going into the Deep Roads for up to three weeks. Do you have enough food for that?" Shepard asked.

"We have enough dry food for nearly a month if we eat sparsely," Orana said. "When I was a slave, we often weren't fed properly, so I make sure that we always have enough."

"You were a slave?" Tali asked.

"Yes, until messere Hawke rescued me," Orana said, gesturing to Hawke. "And messere Hawke? Is Fenris with you? I haven't seen him."

"Fenris and I..." Hawke trailed off.

"We had our disagreement regarding the mages," Anders said.

"Anders, you're on thin ice," Aveline said cautiously.

"This was during the mage uprising?" Orana asked.

"Yes, it was," Hawke said. "We wanted to save the mages who were innocent, but Fenris wouldn't have it. He joined the Templars in the end."

"And he fought you?" Orana asked.

"Yes, he did. I tried talking him out of it, but he gave me no choice."

"I see," Orana said, her eyes falling.

"We can talk about what happened once we start moving," Bodahn said. "We don't want to be caught on the road when night falls."

"Hold on, I'm not sure you would like traveling with us," Shepard said.

"Why not? We've already been in the Deep Roads twice, we have enough food, and we can pull our own weight," Bodahn said. "And Sandal can whip up more of his enchantments for you, too! Those came in handy, didn't they, messere Hawke?"

"Enchantment!"

"They certainly did," Hawke admitted.

"Shepard, I don't think it would be wise," Miranda said. "How would we explain ourselves to them?"

"I know what you mean, Miranda," Shepard said. "Hawke? Can I speak to you for a minute? In private?"

Shepard lead Hawke away from Bodahn.

"I don't think they should travel with us," Shepard said. "We're already interfering in your world enough. I don't want to drag more people into this."

"That's understandable, but I can't say no to Bodahn," Hawke said. "He's right, Sandal's enchantments have been damn useful in the past. And Orana? She makes a killer pork roast."

"Then how would we explain Tali to them? Or our technology?" Shepard demanded.

"You did a pretty good job explaining it to us," Hawke pointed out.

"Dammit," she groaned, running her hands through her hair. "Why else should we bring them along? What purpose could they have?"

"Carrying stuff, enchantments, food, that's about it," Hawke said, shrugging. "If it makes any difference, when they came to the Deep Roads with us, they weren't in the way in the least. In fact, they were quite helpful. I'm sure you can explain things to them pretty easily."

Shepard paced.

"Fine," she said. "But you'll be responsible for them."

"Don't worry about it," Hawke said as they started walking back.

Looking back, Shepard saw Sandal standing in the cart, trying to pull Tali's hood back. Tali was holding the hood down, gently pushing him away.

"Sickly lady, don't be sick," Sandal said.

"I'm quite fine, thank you," Tali said. "Stop that!"

"Dear me, miss, I'm so sorry," Bodahn said, walking to the cart. "Sandal, stop bothering the nice sister."

"Maker above! What happened to your hands?" Orana gasped, pointing to Tali's exposed hand.

"Shit," Tali said.

"My word!" Bodahn gasped, recoiling at the sight.

"She's different," Sandal said.

"Christ, here we go again," Zaeed groaned.

"Alright, that's enough," Jacob said. He reached up and grabbed Sandal, lifting him from the cart. "Now's a damn good time to start heading your own way."

"But her hands! Will she be alright?" Orana said.

"She's not missing any fingers, she only has three of them," Bodahn said.

"Looks like the cat is out of the bag," Hawke said. "Shepard? How do you want to handle this?"

* * *

><p>"...and you're from the stars," Bodahn finished.<p>

"Yes, that's just it," Miranda said.

"Don't worry, it sounded crazy to us, too," Bethany said. "You get used to it, though. They're really nice people."

"Are you sure they're not abominations?" Orana asked. Even though she was in a different cart, she was staying as far away from Tali as she possibly could.

"We're not abominations, nor are we magic," Tali said. She was fiddling with her pulled back hood. "Shepard, how is it that we attract everyone when we say we won't?"

"Hell if I know, Tali," Shepard sighed. "This the place?"

"Looks like it," Aveline said, studying the map. "The entrance should be right there, along the mountain."

"Think I found it," Kasumi called. She was twenty yards ahead of the carts, and stood in an opening to a cave. The opening was large enough so they could bring both carts in side by side.

"Messere Hawke, do you really trust these people in saying who they are?" Orana asked. "They might kill us, like they killed my father."

"Orana, they are most certainly not blood mages," Hawke said. "They've saved our lives plenty of times over. If they wanted to kill us, they would have already."

"I don't know," she said. "But if you say they're our friends, I guess I'll trust them."

"That a girl, Orana," Hawke said. "Now let's set up camp."

* * *

><p>"Think they're there?" Joker asked, sitting in the helmsman's chair.<p>

"Should be there soon," Mordin said, pacing behind him. "Could be setting up camp, establishing secure perimeter. Would be the smartest thing to do."

"They've been gone a while," Joker said. "You sure they haven't run into any problems?"

"Jeff, please relax," EDI said, her holographic avatar appearing next to Joker. "Shepard is traveling through medieval means. It would take some time to get to their destination."

"Maybe we should ask Isabella if she thinks they're there," Joker said.

"You're awfully nervous, Jeff. Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine. Why couldn't Shepard be giving us updates? It would be better than sitting around here, twiddling our thumbs."

"We can't have Shepard attracting attention using any technology, even if it's a simple comm line on her omni-tool. Once they get into the Deep Roads, we'll be able to have constant communication with them," EDI said.

"You're just nervous because we have to wait," Mordin said. "Understandable. Coming from a high-tech culture to a no-tech culture is jarring. Have been feeling antsy myself. But we must wait."

"_Shepard to Normandy, come in Normandy,"_ the comm line buzzed.

"Finally!" Joker said, answering the call. "Normandy to Shepard, we read you loud and clear. How are things over there?"

"_Oh, things are just great,"_ Shepard said. _"Got three new party members to join us."_

"Shepard, you said that we should minimize contact with the locals to preserve their way of life," EDI said.

"_I know what I said, it's just that our plan to minimize contact got shot to hell,"_ Shepard said.

"How did that happen?" Joker asked.

"_It's a complicated story that I really don't want to go over. Let's just say that we ran into old friends of Hawke's."_

"He sure knows a lot of people," Joker said.

"_And these aren't even the people who want to kill him."_

"Any other news to report?" Mordin asked. "Any sudden discoveries or anomalies?"

"_No, things are pretty quiet right now,"_ Shepard said. _"Doesn't make me feel any better, though. Tomorrow we're walking into death's gaping maw."_

"Stay relaxed, things will be alright," Mordin promised.

"_I'm sure they will,"_ Shepard said. She didn't sound to convinced. _"Signing off for now. We'll contact you in the morning. Shepard out."_

"Well, good to know they didn't die before they got there," Joker said. The airlock slid open and Isabella walked in. Following her was one of the crew.

"How is our star girl doing?" Isabella asked, leaning into the pilot's area.

"She's doing fine," Mordin replied. "They've just made it to the entrance to the Deep Roads and are making camp."

"That's great," Isabella said. "Tomorrow's the big day, huh?"

"Sure looks like it," Joker said.

"I can't help but notice that you've taken a liking to the ship," Mordin said. "I would have thought culture shock would work against you."

"Please, a ship is a ship is a ship," Isabella said. "And I like big boats, I cannot lie. In fact, this nice young man was going to give me a personalized tour. Have fun watching those glowy-screen-things!"

"Strange. I thought she already got a tour of the Normandy," Mordin said as Isabella walked away with the crewman.

"The way she looks, I'd give her a rundown of the ship," Joker said.

"Was that phrase supposed to be sexually charged?" EDI asked.

"Sorry EDI, what did you say?" Joker asked innocently.

* * *

><p>The morning came, and for Shepard, it felt like it was dragging its feet. She was always nervous before a big mission, and could barely sleep for ten minutes without having flashbacks to Akuze. Standing in the morning air, she stared at the entrance to the Deep Roads. It looked like a regular cave entrance, only the interior of the entrance was framed with beautiful geometric designs.<p>

"Couldn't sleep?" Hawke asked, walking up to her. He was putting on his plate armor, and only had the chest piece strapped on.

"You have no idea," Shepard said tiredly.

"I have a pretty good idea," Hawke said. "Been down there a couple of times before, and those fights stay with you."

_The Thresher Maw reared its head and dove straight for her._

"I know how that is," Shepard said.

"Can I ask what's bothering you?" Hawke said.

"Thanks, but I really don't want to talk about it now," Shepard said, rubbing her eyes. "We better eat something before we head in."

Hawke followed her to the campfire. Orana was cooking a quick breakfast in a beaten iron pot.

"Breakfast, messeres. I hope you like it," she said, handing Shepard and Hawke a bowel.

"Thanks," Shepard said, helping herself to the mixed omelet.

"This is some pretty damn good cooking," Jacob said, moving to get a second helping.

"Wait until everyone's had their first share," Aveline said, blocking Jacob's grab for the food.

"Yes, mother."

"The bloody Deep Roads. Maker, why did I agree to this?" Anders mumbled.

"Quit your bitching. At least this mission has a chance to come back alive," Zaeed said.

"Is that supposed to make me feel any better?"

"Yes it bloody is. Take it from me, suicide missions aren't normally this fun."

"This is fun for you?" Bethany asked.

"When you've been on as many certain-death missions as I have, you start getting a little jaded," Zaeed replied.

"Varric would love to hear those stories," Hawke said, sitting down.

"I've already told him a few. He eats them up like they were candy."

"That doesn't surprise me."

"How is the packing going?" Shepard asked, finishing her breakfast.

"We've gotten all our sleeping bags and tents packed up," Jacob said. "We just have to make sure we got everything tied down with Bodahn, and we're ready to go."

"Don't worry about me, Sandal and I have already packed up," Bodahn said. "We're used to traveling like this. Would you believe we traveled with the Hero of Fereldan during the Blight?"

"You're joking," Anders said.

"I swear on my mother's grave. Even rubbed shoulders with King Alistair. He's a good man, has a strange sense of humor."

"Well, if everyone's done eating, let's get ready to move out," Shepard said, standing up. Jacob made a grab for the last bits of breakfast.

"Careful, you don't want to get a stomach cramp," Miranda said.

"A cramp is the last thing I'm worried about. I'm more worried about Tali," Jacob said.

"I'm fine. I had some protein paste while Orana was cooking," Tali said. She was fidgeting with the red Chantry sash.

"Nervous?" Bethany asked.

"Terribly," Tali admitted.

"We're all nervous," Shepard said. "So let's stay focused, keep our eyes open, and get ready for anything."

* * *

><p>"<em>Shepard to Normandy. Do you copy, Normandy?"<em>

"Normandy to Shepard, we hear you loud and clear," Joker said, answering the call. A large group of the crew were gathered just outside the cockpit, and were talking excitedly. Joker turned around. "Could you guys keep it quiet there?"

"Sorry, Joker, we just wanted to see what Shepard was getting herself into," one said.

"Then watch it on the main display. I'm going to broadcast it to the entire ship."

"Slight problem. Tali and Kasumi disassembled the main holographic projector in order to camouflage the Normandy," Mordin said. He was standing behind Joker, but because of his participation in the mission, was inside the cockpit. "Just let them watch. Couldn't hurt to have a few people gazing over your shoulder."

"_Everything okay over there, Normandy?" _Shepard asked.

"Yea, we got everything under control," Joker replied. "How are things going over there?"

"_We're all ready to enter the Deep Roads. Ready to receive communications?"_

"Ready for transmissions. Send data when ready," Mordin said.

The screen flashed, calibrating the data the small camera Shepard was wearing on her shoulder. Smaller screens read information from miniature cameras worn by Jacob, Miranda, Kasumi, Zaeed, Tali, and on the cart. The crowd behind Joker cheered.

"Reading the camera signals loud and clear," EDI said. "No interference."

"_How are the pictures?"_ Shepard asked.

"Crystal clear," Joker said. "Tali did a good job tearing out those secret cameras the Illusive Man put on the Normandy."

"He will not be pleased when we return to our time-space," EDI said.

"Sure he will understand. These are special circumstances," Mordin said.

"_Okay, let's enter the Deep Roads,"_ Shepard called out. On screen, Hawke and Aveline lead the group into the cave.

"Amazing. Wish I could be there. Carvings on walls simply astounding," Mordin said. "Examining new species' architecture is fascinating work. We are recording this, correct?"

"Correct, doctor," EDI said.

"Good. Would hate to lose data."

"_Everyone reading this?"_ Shepard said.

"That's a positive. Everyone on the Normandy is seeing this," Joker confirmed.

"_My God, this place is huge," _Shepard gasped.

* * *

><p>"Ladies and gentlemen of the stars, welcome to the Deep Roads," Bodahn said as they entered the cavern. "The abandoned pathways of the ancient dwarvin empire."<p>

"And current home to the rapidly recovering and mass murdering darkspawn," Hawke quipped.

"Damn, this place is incredible," Jacob said.

"These wall carvings would be worth a fortune. Wonder if I could take a section of the wall over there?" Kasumi wondered aloud.

"You'd have to carry it yourself," Shepard said. "And it doesn't look too light."

"Killjoy."

"The ceilings must be ten meters tall," Tali said, equally in awe. "How did they build this?"

"Very carefully, I'd imagine," Hawek said. "Anders, Aveline, you see any darkspawn?"

"None yet," Aveline said, eyeing the road. "We're not exactly that far into the Deep Roads, so we may not see some for a while."

"Why didn't I go with you before?" Bethany gasped. "This is beautiful."

"It loses some of its luster when the darkspawn attack," Hawek said. "Bethany, I know you might hate me for not letting you go, but aside from mother and our dear uncle Gamlin, you were the only family I had left. I couldn't risk your life when I was already gambling with mine."

"He made the right decision, trust me," Anders said.

"The architecture is amazing. Humanity could really learn a thing or two from this," Miranda said. "Normandy, are you getting all of this?"

"_That's a positive," _Joker said. _"Everyone on the Normandy is seeing this."_

"Messere Hawke, are you sure it is safe to be here?" Orana asked, her voice shaking. "The stories I've heard of the Deep Roads are always talking of its endless horrors."

"Well, it's certainly not a place I'd like to build my summer home, that's for sure," Hawke said. "But we're going to keep you safe, don't you worry."

"Tali, are you getting any eezo readings?" Shepard asked. Her shield straps were starting to cut into her arm. She fiddled with the adjustments.

"I'm getting some faint readings about twenty meters or so underground," Tali said, consulting her omni-tool. "I'm not too sure the readings would be very accurate with all the interference from the dense stone, but I'm sure we're accurate to within three meters."

"Glowly thing!"

"Now, now, Sandal, don't try grabbing that thing," Bodahn said.

"Couldn't we have pulled that damn mineral scanner from the Normandy?" Zaeed asked.

"The scanner is far too large to carry around, and even if we could, we'd need a fusion core to power it," Tali said. "Omni-tool data is the only thing we can go by."

"At least you have an idea where you want to go. When we came here, we had to guess where all the good stuff was," Hawke said.

"Can we start moving? The darkspawn might smell us and track us down," Anders said.

"Alright people, vacation's over. We got work to do," Shepard said. "Tali? What's the best direction?"

"That way," Tali said, pointing to down the broken pathway.

* * *

><p>While the crew were watching the first images of the Deep Roads, Isabella snuck towards the hanger exit.<p>

"Another night indoors?" Jack asked, catching her at the hanger entrance.

"If you must know, yes," Isabella said. "I'm not sure I got a chance to introduce myself. I'm-"

"Isabella. I know about you. Jacob isn't that good at shutting his mouth," Jack said. "I'm Jack."

"'Jack?' Did you give your parents shit for giving you a man's name?" Isabella asked.

"I picked my name my damn self," Jack snapped. "My parents had nothing to do with it."

"Touchy subject. Sorry I brought it up," Isabella said. "May I ask why you're standing here, waiting for me?"

"Just wanted to see what Jacob got his panties in a twist over," Jack said. "And apparently someone else got their panties in a knot."

"You're awfully observant. Does Shepard pay you for your witty comments, or is that a free service you provide?"

"What I do is my own damn business," Jack said. "And you're awfully seductive for a pirate. What kind of booty do you try to steal?"

"Anything that's of worth. Money, artifacts, maybe even an occasional shag or two. You should try it sometime. Really great for dealing with tension. Calms you down like you wouldn't believe."

"So that gives you free reign to fuck all of the guys on the ship? They have a name for that, and where I come from, it ain't 'pirate.'"

"Ooh, the whore jokes begin! I haven't heard a good one in ages! How about this one: the only important question you can think of is 'who's the father.'"

"You came up with that one yourself?"

"Actually, I didn't. Now your turn. Or do you not have any talk to go with that walk?"

"Bitch, I will cut you." Jack took a step towards Isabella.

"Not if I cut you first," Isabella said, pulling a parring knife out.

"You think that tiny ass blade is going to kill me?" Jack laughed.

"Who said I was trying to kill you? I was going to take one of your pretty little eyes with me as a souvenir."

Jack's biotics flared. Isabella reached for her main dagger on her back.

"Now, now," Isabella said. "No need to bring magic into this."

"I'll turn you into a fucking smear on the wall, bitch," Jack hissed. "Don't you fucking _dare _talk down to me."

"This blade will go through your eye before you know what hit you. Don't think you can take me," Isabella said.

The two women stared at each other, unblinking. From the other side of the hanger, the elevator opened, and Cerberus crew started filling the hanger.

"Mind if I leave now?" Isabella asked.

"Yea, it'll be a good idea to get out of here," Jack said.

"Thank you. Didn't think you'd want the entire crew watch me kill you," Isabella said, walking away.

Seething, Jack walked back to the elevator.

"You talking to someone, Jack?" Engineer Gabby asked.

"Just the biggest slut to ever walk the Earth," Jack hissed.

* * *

><p>"And here comes the pirate, fresh from another conquest," Varric said as Isabella walked up to the pot of cooking breakfast. "How did it go?"<p>

"Just ran into the biggest madwoman this side of Kirkwall," Isabella said.

"Sounds like that ruined your night," Merrill said.

"Not really, just made things a little more interesting," Isabella said. "Any news from our wayward Hawke?"

"Just that they're entering the Deep Roads," Varric said. "Shepard's men are watching in the Normandy. You want to check it out?"

"I don't want to run into that crazy woman Jack right now, so I don't think so."

"Good. That ship freaks me out."

"Really? I think it's amazing," Merrill said. "Sure, the clean, metal rooms look strangely eerie, but the crew is very nice, especially the aliens Shepard has."

"Can't wait to see how friendly they are," Isabella said, helping herself to the porridge that Merrill made.

"Andraste's ass! You aren't seriously thinking about _that_, are you?" Varric said.

"Why not? I've slept with dwarves and elves, and they're not human," Isabella pointed out. "Or don't you remember why I call you the Paragon of Manliness?"

"I'm going to try really hard to not remember this conversation," Merrill said.

"Don't worry, kitten, I won't tell you what you don't want to hear," Isabella said.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"If you don't mind me asking, how do people here treat the other species?" Kelly Chambers asked.

"Well, it depends on the person," Isabella replied. The two sat outside at the dining tables. Isabella was finishing her pasta dinner, while Kelly was still working on her serving. "Most of the time, people are raging arseholes, pardon my language. Most humans believe dwarfs and elves to be below them, especially if the elves live in the alienage slums."

"That's terrible," Kelly said. "I was hoping that there would be better treatment of the races here. There's far too much xenophobia where we're from."

"Sorry, what?"

"Xenophobia. It's the irrational fear of aliens. We also use it to describe people who believe that aliens are inferior to humans."

"Sorry to break it to you, but we have the same thing here," Isabella said. "Can't see why. Elves have such pretty eyes. And the dwarfs make a damn good blade."

"I feel the same way. There's so much culture to be studied, art to be seen and music to be heard from other cultures," Kelly said. "And cooking. We can't forget cooking, can we?"

"Tell me about it. Orana and Merrill are some of the best cooks I've seen," Isabella agreed. "Now, forgive me if I'm out of place, but what would it be like if you were seen walking around with an alien?"

"Not a lot of people would think about it, truthfully. We meet with aliens all the time, to discuss business, talk about politics..."

"No, no. I mean, if you were _with_ an alien."

"Oh," Kelly said, realizing what Isabella was asking about. "I'm sure you'd get plenty of strange and dirty looks, but unless you were in a very conservative area, that would be it."

"Some people just aren't ready for inter-species relations, are they?" Isabella joked. "Here, it isn't that uncommon to see a half-elf. That is half-human, half-elf."

"You can crossbreed? How interesting. I'm sure Mordin would love to hear that."

"Your scientist person is really strange, you know that?"

"I know. He's a bit...eccentric, but he's a good team member."

"Just a team member, huh?" Isabella grinned.

"What? Yes, just a team member," Kelly said, blushing.

"I'm kidding, Kelly. Though you do strike me as a very loving person."

"What can I say? I'm a people person."

"I have another question for you. What do people think if they see a man and a man, or a woman and a woman, holding hands?"

"It used to be a big deal, but people are used to it now. They're more worried about humans having relationships with aliens."

"Good to know you people know how to keep your options open," Isabella smiled. "Here, you usually have to pay to see something like that."

"People still consider that taboo?" Kelly asked.

"Sort of. It's frowned upon by the closed-minded, but you won't get stoned or anything like that. I can't see why, there are plenty of beautiful women in the world, like you. Why should one limit themselves?"

"That your philosophy on life?" Kelly said, blushing slightly.

"That's exactly it. Don't tell me you never thought about sticking only to men, I've seen you looking at Shepard a few times."

"She is pretty," Kelly admitted. "I haven't really experimented since college, though."

"And that college is your schooling?" Isabella asked.

"High level education, yes."

"And you had a few girls then?"

"It was after a few drinks at some parties, but yes." Isabella caught her blushing again.

"And? What did you think?" She pressed.

"It...wasn't bad," Kelly said.

"Sounds like you've had the wrong girls," Isabella said. "You have to get someone who knows what she's doing."

"And you would know this?" Kelly asked.

"As a matter of fact, I consider myself quite the expert on that," Isabella said proudly. "My philosophy is that men are only good for one thing, while women are good for several."

"That's quite a philosophy."

"Maybe I can show you a few points. What do you say?"

"What? Here?"

"Yes, out in the open where everyone can see us," Isabella said sarcastically. "I meant in some private rooms. Weren't you the one who said we should open our boarders and try new things?"

* * *

><p>"I guess they don't call it the Deep Roads for nothing," Shepard said, chuckling nervously. "Tali, how far down are we?"<p>

"About fifteen meters," Tali said.

"Everything here is so uniform. It's actually a little unnerving," Miranda said.

"Getting second thoughts about coming down here?" Anders asked.

"I've had second thoughts about this from the get-go," Shepard said. "How are those lyrium readings?"

"We should be around a small vein or two," Tali said.

"Let's make camp here and start finding these lyrium veins," Shepard said. "Aveline? This look like a good spot to you?"

"As good as a place in the Deep Roads could be," Aveline replied. "Bodahn, can I get a hand pitching the tents?"

"Be right there," Bodahn said.

"Bethany, let's keep watch until we're all set up," Hawke said.

"Zaeed, Jacob, you're on guard duty with them."

"Got you, Shepard."

"Tali, Kasumi, let's get our home away from home set up."

"Still can't believe the darkspawn still haven't attack us yet," Anders said.

"You said there was a big war a few years ago, right?" Shepard said. "They could still be recovering. Building an army takes time, more than you'd think."

"It's a fair point," Aveline said, rolling one tent out. "Fereldan is still recovering from the Blight, and that was six years ago. We might get lucky and not see darkspawn until we get further down the Roads."

"Just how far are we planning to go?" Anders asked.

"As far as we have to," Shepard said. "We need to get sixty-six stones of raw lyrium. If it takes a few weeks, so be it."

* * *

><p>Jack waited by the hanger exit. She saw Isabella sneak in the last night, and she wasn't about to let her leave as easily as she had the last time. She'd been standing by the elevator for hours, and she was getting angry at having to wait any longer.<p>

"Got you," Isabella said, laying a knife to Jack's throat. "Knew you'd be looking for me. Now are we going to have to get nasty?"

"You got me? I got you, bitch," Jack said, grinning despite herself. Just as she'd thought, Isabella remembered the emergency ladder to bypass the elevator.

"'You got me?' I've got a blade to your throat," Isabella said.

"And I've got a gun to your stomach," Jack said.

Isabella looked down. Jack's hand was at her hip holster, and the gun was squarely pointed to her guts.

"Another draw," Isabella said. "So how do you want to handle this?"

"You let go of my throat, and I'll let you live for the time," Jack said.

"Doesn't sound like I'm going to get a better deal. Back off on three, alright? One, two three."

Isabella dropped the knife from Jack's neck, and Jack let go of her gun. Isabella took a few steps back.

"So who'd you fuck this time? Joker in the cockpit?" Jack asked cruelly.

"A wonderful girl named Kelly, actually."

"You nailed Chambers? She's not a lesbian!"

"No, but she said she'd experimented a bit in something called 'college,'" Isabella said. "A few shots and I talked her into reliving what she called the best years of her life."

"You fucking slut," Jack hissed.

"And what does that make you? Kelly told me a few interesting stories about you. Did you really try to shag Shepard?"

"None of your damn business."

"And my affairs are none of yours. Do we have an agreement?"

Jack glared at Isabella. The bitch had her.

"Get out of here before I change my mind."

"See you tomorrow, then," Isabella said cheerfully. "If it makes you feel any better, you almost got me this time. Another week or so, and things will get really interesting!"

* * *

><p>"You get a good vein?" Shepard asked Zaeed.<p>

"Better than the shit we got last time," Zaeed grunted, tossing the pick ax back into the cart. "I'd think this would weigh about ten kilos. What you say?"

"That sounds pretty good," Jacob said, loading up the recently mined lyrium. "That puts us at what, forty kilos?"

"Forty-three," Bethany said. "We're really making good time."

"Excellent time," Hawke said. "Why couldn't we have run into you when we first came down here? Your scanner-things are making a world of difference."

"Certainly saves us the trouble of going as far down as we can and praying to Andraste for good luck," Anders said.

"It's just as we said. We keep finding all the small veins of lyrium, and soon we'll have enough," Tali said.

"Wish we could hit it big. I'm really starting to get claustrophobic," Kasumi said. "God, it feels like the walls are really starting to close in on me."

"I do miss me some fresh air," Shepard admitted.

"Take a deep breath, it happens to everyone," Anders said. "I'll never understand how the dwarfs could live down here."

"Let me guess: very carefully?" Shepard said, grinning at Hawke.

"Exactly," Hawke smiled back. "How you holding up back there?"

"Oh, just fine, messere," Bodahn said. "Sandal's busy making enchantments. He's as happy as a clam."

"Enchantment!"

"I can't wait to get out of here," Orana said.

"Don't worry, Orana, we'll be out of here in a few days," Miranda said. "Just a few more kilos."

"Easier said than done," Zaeed said, getting into the cart.

* * *

><p>"I'm afraid I don't have that many stories," Thane said.<p>

"Come on, assassins have some of the juiciest stories around," Varric said. "Any epic tales of love? Vengeance? Anything?"

"None to your liking," Thane said.

"Try me."

"Very well," Thane sighed. "As I've said, my job was an assassin. I was trained from an early age to end lives. I thought that would all change when I married my wife and had my son. But killing was the only thing I was good at, and I constantly took side jobs. I tried being careful, but a group of slavers paid good money to find out anything about me from the Shadow Broker, and that's how they found out about my wife. They killed her while I was away on a job."

"So you cut a bloody swath through their ranks to avenge her?" Varric asked.

"Yes. I tracked them all down, and I killed them slowly. I made them feel my wife's pain as they killed her," Thane said. "It took years. They hid themselves carefully, but I was better. Finally, when the last slaver breathed his last, I was lost. I had dedicated the rest of my life to avenging my wife; now that they were dead, I had no reason to live. I took a suicidal job, hoping to find peace and my wife in the afterlife, but that's where I me Shepard. She persuaded me to work for her, to save the lives of missing human colonists. It was as noble of a job as I could accept.

"But while I was working with her, I got word of my son. In my path of vengeance, I left him when he was just a child. I unwittingly killed his soul as well as mine. When he grew up, he found out what I did for a living, and wanted to become just like me, a trained killer with a dead soul."

"Did you save him?" Varric asked.

"Barely. I had to ask Shepard for her help. We stopped him just as he was about to kill a politician. I had to work with him, talk with him, before he started opening up to me again."

"And that's why you have to get back. To see your son."

"He was the only good thing I've ever added to the galaxy."

"I'm glad for you, Thane. I really am," Varric said.

"Thank you. Like I said, this wasn't the kind of story you were expecting."

"I'll admit, I didn't think you'd tell a story like this one," Varric admitted. "But if there's one kind of story people like, it's of redemption. Your story was very beautiful. I'm sure there would be plenty of people who want to hear it."

"You really think so?"

"Of course. I liked it. And if _I_like a story, it's bound to be a hit."

* * *

><p>"Lurking around the ship again, Isabella?" Engineer Kenneth asked.<p>

"Yep. Gonna see if I can bag me a crazy woman today," Isabella grinned as she walked to the hanger.

"You know, Jack probably won't like you playing with her like that," Gabby said.

"Are you kidding? This is the most carefree fun I've had in a long time," Isabella said. "Nothing like a good cat-and-mouse game to get the blood pumping."

"Poor girl is gonna get herself killed," Kenneth said sadly as Isabella slunk away. "Just after we got to know each other so well."

"Kenneth, please, I don't need to know about your personal life," Gabby said.

"I'm going to watch out for her," Kenneth said, following Isabella.

"What are you going to do, tell her to be careful?" Gabby said.

"Gotta do something before Jack kills her."

"Don't tell me you're getting soft for her," Gabby said, following Kenneth out of the engineering bay.

"No, I'm just worried we'll get in trouble for having our friendly local killed."

"You're a terrible liar, Kenneth." The two looked out through the broken windows of the hanger bay.

"There she is," Kenneth said, pointing. Isabella was cautiously sneaking along the boxes of the hanger bay, trying to stay out of sight.

"See? She's perfectly safe," Gabby said.

Isabella paused, then spun around, pulling out her dagger as Jack stepped out of a shadow, gun already drawn.

"God! Those two are going to kill each other," Gabby said.

"Quiet," Kenneth hissed.

"Careful, bitch, you'll put someone's eye out with that," Jack grinned.

"Looks like you finally got me," Isabella said, dropping her dagger.

"Jack won't kill an unarmed woman, would she?" Kenneth asked.

"Jack is a lot of things, but I don't think she's very merciful," Gabby said. "We should get security down here."

"Told you I'd get you one of these days," Jack said from the hanger bay.

"Serves me right for saying things would get interesting. Where I come from, that's a curse."

"The whole 'may you live in interesting times' bullshit?"

"Good to know I'm not the only one who thinks that's rubbish. What's the point of living if things aren't interesting?"

"Are you actually agreeing with me?" Jack chuckled.

"Sure look that way." Isabella stood up from her crouch and faced Jack and her gun. "So, how do you want to do this?"

"Haven't actually put a lot of thought into this yet," Jack admitted. "Usually I'd kill someone who pisses me off as much as you do, but I think I'll do something special to you."

"Me? Piss you off? When did that happen?" Isabella said.

"Don't play dumb with me, whore. You think you can get away with calling me a bitch?"

"I didn't call you a bitch, I called you a smart ass. There's a difference."

"Shut up, slut. You know what this gun will do to you?"

"I'm not that stupid, I've seen those things work."

"Then you should know better than give me shit."

"If I remember right, you were the first one to give me lip."

"I called you a slut because that's what you are."

"And I called you a stuck up bitch because that's what you are."

"Whore!" Jack's biotics flared as she took a step closer to Isabella.

"Oh my God, they're really going to kill each other!" Gabby gasped. "Kenneth, get security down here right now!"

"Batshit crazy bitch!" Isabella stepped up herself.

"I'm calling them," Kenneth said, pulling up his omni-tool.

The two met, Jack pulling at Isabella's hair as Isabella mashed her lips against Jack's. Gabby and Kenneth stared at the two as they tangled, then fell to the ground, pulling off their clothes.

"What are they doing?" Gabby stammered.

"Jesus," Kenneth gasped. "That is some heavy hate-sex."

"Stop staring at them! Jesus Christ!"

* * *

><p>"Hold up," Hawke said. "Everyone, get quiet."<p>

"What is it?" Miranda asked.

Hawke held up his hand for silence.

"Everyone, battle stance," Avenline whispered, pulling out her sword. Seconds later, she heard what Hawke had heard. A scratching, clawing in the distance.

"Looks like we found our first darkspawn," Kasumi said. "You want me to go silent, Shep?"

"Yes. If the darkspawn engage us, find their leader and take him out," Shepard said. Kasumi nodded, and with a command to her omni-tool, she vanished from sight.

"Lady disappeared," Sandal whispered in awe.

"That's right. Now stay quiet, please," Bodahn said. "Orana, stay in the back of the cart."

"Group up," Hawke said quietly, motioning to the group. Aveline quietly moved up with Hawke, followed by Zaeed and Jacob. Shepard and Miranda stood by the carts with Tali, Anders and Bethany.

Hawke's heart pounded in his chest. He was ready for anything. So when the first darkspawn rounded the faraway corner, he showed little surprise. The darkspawn archer squawked in surprise, calling to the other darkspawn. Hurlocks and archers poured out from the rough opening in the road. Hawke didn't want to know how many there were.

"Tali, Get on the turret," Shepard said. She and Miranda grabbed two of the assault rifles that Jacob modified.

"Right." Tali climbed into the cart, and lifted an empty barrel serving as camouflage off of the improvised turret. She primed all three fully automatic assault rifles and leveled it at the fast approaching darkspawn.

"Long range attacks would be nice right about now," Hawke said.

Bethany and Anders unleashed bolts of fire and electricity, stopping a few darkspawn.

"Firing," Tali called out. The firing sound of the assault rifles compounded in the enclosed space, making it sound as if Grunt's Claymore shotgun or Legion's Widow rifle was going off next to Shepard. Darkspawn fell by the score.

"Bethany! Drop fire some on their heads," Hawke said.

"Way ahead of you, brother," Bethany said, concentrating. Seconds later, a firestorm materialized and fell on the darkspawn, blowing up as fireballs hit the ground. Still more darkspawn rushed from the cavern openings, but most were killed before they made their way to Hawke's frontline.

"Here we go," Hawke said, burying his sword into a darkspawn's head. Zaeed yelled, taking out four darkspawn with a swing of his ax.

"Keep up the fire," Jacob yelled, pushing back two darkspawn with his shield.

Shepard picked off more and more darkspawn. There finally seemed to be an end to them, less and less were trickling out of the caves.

"Covering fire, this needs to cool down," Tali said, cycling the cooling pumps on the turret.

"Right." Anders summoned his own firestorm, knocking aside lesser darkspawn and igniting others.

"Come on, this isn't so bad! Is this all you got?" Hawke said, slicing a darkspawn open. Tali loaded the turret and began cutting down more darkspawn.

"Emissary! Look out!" Aveline yelled, pointing at the back of the darkspawn horde. One darkspawn created a ball of pure energy and threw it. "Tali, look out!"

Tali jumped from the cart just as the explosive ball of energy hit it. She was thrown across the road by the sheer force of it.

"Dammit! Tali! You okay?" Shepard yelled, slowly falling back to help Tali.

"I'm fine," Tali said. "Just stunned. Keep at the darkspawn."

"Take out that Emissary," Anders yelled. At the other end of the battlefield, the Emissary was preparing another ball of energy. Just as he was ready to throw it, Kasumi uncloaked behind him, and threw a punch at the back of his head. Her omni-tool turned into a knife, and she bashed the Emissary's brains out. The ball of energy went wild, hitting the attacking darkspawn. Their bodies flew through the air with the force of the explosion.

"Leader is down," Kasumi said, vanishing into the shadows before the darkspawn knew what happened.

"No more than a dozen left, keep it up!" Hawke said. The ground rumbled as he pulled his sword out from a darkspawn's gut. An ogre crawled out of a smaller tunnel and stood to its full height.

"Maker," Bethany gasped.

"Ogre! Dodge it's charge!" Hawke bellowed just as the ogre lowered its head and started barreling towards them. He flung himself to the side, and the ogre charged past him. It slammed its feet to the ground, grinding to stop no more than ten feet from Shepard.

"Fuck!" Shepard poured shot after shot into the ogre, but it shrugged them off like they were bee stings. The ogre bellowed and reached out to grab Shepard. She barely had time to activate her tech armor before the ogre grabbed her and lifted her in the air.

"Check your fire, it's got Shepard," Jacob yelled, pulling down Miranda's assault rifle.

"Anders, Bethany, Hit it!" Aveline said, charging the ogre.

The ogre bellowed into Shepard's face. Grunting, she pulled her sword out of her back mounted scabbard and stabbed the ogre with all her strength. The ogre yelled in pain, splattering her with not only blood but saliva.

Hawke and Aveline began hacking at the ogre's legs, but it only succeeded in angering it. The ogre squeezed, and Shepard's tech armor overloaded and burst, stunning the ogre. Temporarily blinded, it threw her across the road. Shepard hit the wall and fell to the ground with a hard grunt, the wind driven from her lungs.

"Hey ugly, over here!" Hawke yelled. "Bethany! Hit it now!"

Bethany threw a fireball at the ogre. It scorched it's back, and it turned to face her. Hawke sunk his sword deep into the ogre's calf. The ogre bellowed and turned to kick Hawke, twisting his sword from his grasp. Across the room, Shepard painfully pulled herself to her feet.

"Fuck this shit," she groaned, stumbling to the knocked over cart.

Bellowing a savage battle cry, Zaeed brought his ax down into the ogre's thigh. Aveline smashed her shield on its big toe, breaking the smaller bone.

"Kill it with bug bites," she yelled. "It can't stop us all!"

Bethany and Anders kept throwing balls of fire and lightning at the ogre, but it kept shrugging the magical attacks off.

"Get behind me. I'll distract it," Hawke said to Zaeed. He hefted his shied and deflected a punch, throwing him to the ground.

The ogre loomed over Hawke. It raised its foot, ready to step on him. Suddenly, the cavern seemed to shake with a massive explosion, and the ogre's head split open. Gushing blood and missing its face, it fell down, shaking the ground as it's body hit the floor. Half deaf, Hawke looked up.

Shepard cycled the Widow Anti-Material Rifle, ejecting the spend thermal clip.

"Boom. Headshot."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Jacob's back ached, but he kept digging at the vein of raw lyrium. Breaking off a sizable chunk, he picked it up to bring back to the cart.

"Damn. You were right, Anders. Where they're darkspawn, there's lyrium," he said, catching his breath. "This has to be the biggest vein we found so far."

"We must be getting thirty kilos from this one," Zaeed agreed.

"That brings us to what, eighty-three kilos?" Tali said. "We have more than enough. We should leave."

"I say we finish this vein, then head out," Kasumi said. "When it comes to fueling the Normandy, I saw we overshoot as opposed to undershoot."

"Kasumi's got a point. Jacob, how much more lyrium is left?" Shepard said.

"Not that much, Shepard. Just a few more minutes of work and we'll be done."

"Great. Finish it off, and we'll get out of here. The darkspawn are really starting to smell."

"They are known for not bathing," Hawke said. "Ugh. I've been down here twice, and I'm still not used to the smell."

"I've been down here three times and I'm still not used to anything here," Anders said.

"Point," Hawke said. "Bodahn, how is the cart repair going?"

"We're all finished, messere," Bodahn said, walking over. "Miranda and Tali helped us fix the axle. It'll run like new now."

"But the turret is only semi-functional," Tali said. "The cooling pumps broke in the crash, and we lost a lot of water. They'll function at half efficiency and overheat faster."

"Better than nothing," Shepard said.

"Wait, where's Sandal?" Orana asked, looking around. "I don't see him anywhere."

"Sandal?" Bodahn called. "Sandal? Where are you? This isn't a game, son, come out! Oh, Maker, he must have run off again!"

"Why didn't you keep a bloody close eye on him?" Zaeed demanded.

"I thought I did! I've tried stopping him before, but he just seems to do whatever he wants. Oh, Maker, please messere Hawke, you have to help me find my boy!"

"Miranda, Tali, Kasumi, you're with us," Shepard said, grabbing her shield. "Jacob, Zaeed, keep up the mining. Get us ready to leave as soon as possible."

"Roger, Commander," Jacob said.

"Aveline, you know the drill," Hawke said. "Bethany, you're coming to. Anders, keep watch for darkspawn. We're going to find Sandal."

"Which way would he have gone?" Kasumi asked. "There have to be four different entrances here!"

"Sandal loves lyrium, so wherever there's a good supply of it, he's got to be there," Aveline said.

"Tali, what's the closet vein of lyrium you can find?" Shepard asked.

"I'm getting a reasonable reading from that way," Tali said, pointing to a cavern entrance. "It isn't that big, but it might require minimal mining to get to it."

"Let's go," Hawke said, leading the way, his sword drawn. "There might be more darkspawn, so get ready to run if we run into another horde like the first one."

Hawke and Aveline cautiously lead the group down the cavern. Shepard, Miranda and Kasumi followed, each carrying a modified assault rifle. Bethany was the last one into the cavern.

"Shit, why does he have to go running off by his damn self all the time?" Aveline said. "I know I shouldn't speak ill of him, being simple and all, but this is the second time he's run off in the Deep Roads."

"Maybe he thought he'd find something worthwhile," Miranda said. "He always seems to just know things, like how Tali can easily get sick."

"Let's leave the speculation for when we find him," Tali said cautiously.

The group slowly walked through the tight cave. The sides closed in until they could only squeeze through one at a time. When the cave spread open, they were greeted with a sight of destruction.

Sandal stood by a nearby vein of raw lyrium. Surrounding him were the bodies of twenty dead darkspawn.

"Sandal?" Hawke said. Sandal turned around, his clothes covered in blood.

"Enchantment!" Sandal said happily, holding up a small enchantment.

"What the hell? Did he do all this?" Shepard gasped, looking at the carnage.

"Boom," Sandal said, grinning.

"Yea, he does that, too," Hawke said. "We really don't know how he does it, he just kind of does."

"It doesn't even look like he broke a sweat," Kasumi said. "He must be the deadliest dwarf on the planet!"

"Enchantment?" Sandal asked, walking up to Hawke.

"Sandal, your father is worried sick about you. You should know better than to walk away like this," Hawke said.

"Sick," Sandal said.

"No, Sandal, I'm not sick. Now let's go back to your father," Hawke said, taking Sandal's shoulder.

"No, sick," Sandal said, pointing at Shepard.

"I'm not sick," Shepard said.

"We can argue about who's sick when we're back at the cart," Aveline said. She sheathed her sword and started squeezing through the small entrance.

"Maybe we should get him a leash or something," Hawke mused as he followed Aveline.

"Bad joke, brother," Bethany said.

"Yea, you're right, it was pretty bad."

"At least we can get out of here," Kasumi said. "I can't wait until I can see the sun again. And all the fresh air I can breathe!"

"You know, now that you mention it, I do feel a little sick. Some fresh air sounds pretty good right about now," Shepard said, trailing off as she collapsed.

* * *

><p>"Help!" Hawke bellowed. "Need a hand over here!"<p>

Jacob and Zaeed threw down their pick axes, grabbing for their weapons as Hawke and Aveline stumbled out of the cavern carrying Shepard.

"Oh my God, what happened?" Jacob asked, running over.

"She just collapsed as we got Sandal," Aveline said, carefully lying Shepard on the ground. "Anders!"

"I don't know what happened to her, she just fell down," Bethany said, busy casting a healing spell on Shepard. "She hasn't woken up yet, either."

"Maker," Anders gasped as he ran over. "We need to wake her up, right now."

"How?" Miranda asked.

"Any way you can think! Slap her, splash water on her, something, anything!" Anders said.

Kasumi reached over and pinched Shepard's nose. Seconds later, gasping for breath, her eyes fluttered open.

"Old trick I learned. Humans wake up when they can't breathe," Kasumi said. "Thank you, Keji."

"Shepard, I need you to look at me," Anders said, gently grasping her head. Shepard looked straight up at the mage. Her eyes were gaunt, her pupils were going gray, and her veins started standing out on her head. "By Andraste's sacred ashes, she has the Taint."

"What? You can't be serious," Hawke said.

"I've seen it before, she had the Taint," Anders said. "Her blood has been corrupted by the darkspawn."

"How did she get infected?" Bethany asked.

"It must've been that damn ogre," Zaeed said. "Shepard got a good stab in and got a blood shower."

"Then heal her!" Tali said, leaning over to give Shepard a boost of medi-gel.

"I can't, you can't just heal the Taint," Anders said. "You only die from it."

"There's got to be a way to save her," Hawke yelled. "Miranda, you have future technology, can't you do something?"

"We might, but we need to get back to the Normandy as soon as possible," Miranda said. "Are we ready to leave?"

"We can leave now," Jacob said.

"How much time do we have before she dies?" Miranda asked Anders.

"I've never seen a person survive more than a few days," he replied.

"Shit, we've got to be a good week and a half underground," Zaeed said.

"No, we've _spent_ a week and a half underground," Tali said. "We've been covering maybe a kilometer or two each day, stopping and searching for lyrium. We have to be a day or so away from an entrance."

"We'll have to whip the horses hard to make it out in time," Aveline said.

"Then we'd better start now," Hawke said. "Give me a hand with her! We're moving her onto a cart!"

* * *

><p>Shepard was on fire. Her veins burned, the fire spreading further and further across her body with each heartbeat.<p>

She screamed herself hoarse, yet didn't seem to scream at all. Her entire body was in agony, and she couldn't figure out what was causing it.

She was on Akuze, holding Jonathan as he died.

"You must survive," he said. "Please, for me."

Shepard knew she should have been freezing, but she was still burning. Even on the frozen wasteland that was Akuze, her body was a walking pyre.

Then she heard the voices. Softly at first, but growing louder and louder.

"Dig! Dig! Dig!"

Akuze disappeared, Jonathan turned into a distant memory, and she was standing in the Deep Roads. In front of her was a giant mining tunnel. It seemed as if it could fit the Normandy inside it with room to spare.

"Dig! Dig! Dig!"

Shepard was terrified of the voices. She wanted to go into the tunnel, wanted to hear the voices, but she knew what the voices were. They were the darkspawn.

"Dig! Dig! Dig!"

Trembling, Shepard took a step inside the tunnel.

* * *

><p>"<em>Miranda to Normandy. We have an emergency situation. Normandy, respond!"<em>

"Normandy to Miranda, what is the problem?" EDI responded.

"_EDI, get the crew up! We need Mordin and Dr. Chakwas!"_ Miranda yelled.

"What is the emergency, Operative Lawson?"

"_Shepard is sick!"_ Miranda said._ "She's been infected with some kind of poison! We're on our way to the surface, but we need medical attention ready for our return!"_

"Understood, Operative Lawson. Waking the crew now. What is your ETA to the Normandy?"

"_Unknown, probably a day,"_ Miranda said. _"Once the doctors are up, put them on the comm line. We'll need medical expertise to help stabilize Shepard."_

* * *

><p>"Sandal, why did you have to run off?" Bodahn said to himself. He lashed the horses again to keep up their speed. "How is messere Shepard?"<p>

"Bad," Bethany said, casting another healing spell.

"Those healing spells aren't going to do anything. Save your energy," Anders said.

"Do you have any better idea, Mr. Gray Warden?" Bethany shot back. "Can't you cure her your damn self?"

"I can't, I don't know how the Gray Wardens overcome the Taint."

"That's bullshit!" Hawke said. "_You_ overcame it!"

"But I didn't get showered in darkspawn blood," Anders said. "We only drank a small vial of the stuff!"

"Stop it," Aveline said, pushing the two apart. "Blaming ourselves won't do anything now. We need to get Shepard to the surface."

"And what? Let her suffer for another day or more?" Anders said. "We have to put her out of her pain, before she dies or becomes a darkspawn."

"No! You are not going to kill her!" Hawke said.

"Killing her is the only way to bring her peace," Anders shot back.

"Stop it! Anders, we'll heal her," Miranda said. "We just need to get her to the Normandy, and we should be in the free."

"There's nothing we can do for her," Anders said stubbornly.

* * *

><p>The incessant chanting got louder and louder. It terrified her, shaking her bones. But it also excited her, making her heart pound more than anything else had ever had. Shepard was terrified, but felt more alive than ever.<p>

"Dig! Dig! Dig!"

Soon, Shepard began hearing the tools of the darkspawn. The sound was soft at first, but the more she walked, the louder and louder it became.

Shepard wanted to turn back, to run away, but her feet continued as if something was guiding her, making her come down the god forsaken path.

* * *

><p>"Maker, please watch over Shepard in this critical time," Orana prayed. She looked up at the second cart. Shepard was sweating heavily, and shaking as if she was cold. "What will happen to her?"<p>

"I don't know," Tali said. "I've never seen Shepard this weak. She's always pushed on, never letting anything get to her."

"You're scared, aren't you?" Orana asked quietly.

"Yes, I'm scared," Tali admitted. "Shepard is one of my closet friends. I owe her everything. I can't imagine her dying like this."

"I'm sorry this happened to her," Orana said. "No one should die like this."

"Stop it, she's not dead yet!" Tali said. "Please, I know you mean well, but just not now."

"I understand," Orana said.

"We're not going to make it," Aveline said from the second cart.

"We have to make it!" Hawke said. He put another wet cloth on Shepard's fever stricken forehead.

"I don't mean to be pessimistic, but we need a fucking miracle to save Shepard," Jacob said. "We're, what, less than a day from the entrance? That still leaves us day of traveling to the Normandy. Can Shepard really last that long?"

"I'm surprised she hasn't passed away yet," Anders said. "She's showing remarkable willpower. But she can't last that long."

"We need the shuttle," Tali yelled from the other cart.

"No! We can't interfere with this world anymore!" Miranda said.

"Either we get the shuttle, or Shepard dies," Tali said. "Please, Miranda, we have to get the shuttle."

Gritting her teeth, Miranda activated her omni-tool.

"Miranda to Normandy, have Mordin and Chakwas load up the shuttle. We're going to need an emergency extraction."

* * *

><p>"Dig! Dig! Dig!"<p>

Shepard gasped, staring into Hell itself. The tunnel could now easily fit the Citadel inside of it, and she could only see darkspawn. Massive bonfires provided light, and they burned on the dead and broken bodies. The stench was foul, but somehow welcoming to her.

"Dig! Dig! Dig!"

The darkspawn hammered at the rocks with the most rudimentary of tools. Iron bars, shovels, clubs, anything they could get their hands on. The tools bounced off the stones, but the sheer tenacity of the attacks eventually crumbled them to dust.

"Dig! Dig! Dig!"

"What are we digging for?" Shepard yelled. Her voice was weak, but silence quickly filled the cavern.

"What are we digging for?" She repeated.

The darkspawn gnashed their teeth, looking at each other in stupefied silence.

"Dragon!" One yelled from the mob. The answer spread like wildfire. Two would repeat it, then twenty, than two hundred, than two thousand. Soon, the entire cavern was chanting.

"Dragon! Dragon! Dig for dragon!"

Shepard's body shook with the reverberated cries. She was crying.

"Dig for dragon! Turn into Demon! Burn the world!" The darkspawn yelled. Their makeshift tools clanged against the stones. "Dig! Dig! Dig!"

A metal pry bar was thrust into her hands, and the bodies of the darkspawn moved, showing her the spot she was to work.

Her heart pounding, her head spinning, and tears pouring down her cheeks, Shepard walked forward to start digging.

* * *

><p>Hawke could feel the fresh air blowing on his face.<p>

"We're almost here! Thank the Maker," he yelled.

"Good, these horses are about to bite the big one," Zaeed said. "We've been running them for over a day now."

The carts broke out of the Deep Roads. The night sky greeted them. Stars and a full moon lit the ground, and the horses drew to a halt, panting for breath.

"Normandy, where is the shuttle?" Tali demanded. "Shepard won't last much longer!"

From behind the cliff, the shuttle roared overhead and touched down. The horses panicked, and Zaeed and Bodahn struggled for control.

"Maker! What is that thing?" Orana screamed.

Jacob and Hawke carried Shepard's makeshift cot down from the cart and towards the shuttle. The doors slid open and Mordin and Dr. Chakwas stepped out.

"My God, Shepard," Dr. Chakwas gasped.

"This is bad," Mordin rambled. "Explanation and video didn't do justice. Come, all of you, into the shuttle."

"I'll stay behind with Bodahn and the carts," Zaeed said. "Send the shuttle back when you're done and we'll bring everything with us."

"Understood," Mordin said. "Come in, must move. Healers, come to. Need your expertise."

Anders, Bethany, Tali, Miranda and Kasumi got onto the shuttle with Hawke and Jacob. They were barely inside when the shuttle lifted off the ground.

"Vitals?" Dr. Chakwas asked, hooking a machine up to Shepard.

"Minimal. Pulse at fifty and falling. Temperature at one-hundred and three Fahrenheit. Strange, brainwaves off the chart. Dreaming? Irrelevant. Drawing blood sample."

"Dr. Chakwas to Normandy, is med bay prepped?"

"_Yes ma'am, everything is set."_

"Good. We'll need everything we've got."

* * *

><p>Laughing and crying, Shepard dug. The pry bar bounced off the rocks, sending terrible vibrations up her arms. After hours of the backbreaking work, it felt like her arms would fall off. She reeled back to hit the rocks again. The darkspawn behind her, beside her, roared their approval.<p>

"Dig! Dig! Dig!"

* * *

><p>"Bad, bad, bad, her blood is extremely toxic," Mordin babbled. Shepard was lying on the med bay operating table, IV drips sticking out of her arms, and a Dialysis machine running beside her. Outside the windows, the crew had gathered around to see what would happen to their Commander. "Penicillin not working. Need to replace tainted blood."<p>

"You need blood? Take mine," Hawke said, rolling up his sleeve.

Mordin ran his omni-tool over Hawke's arm.

"Blood no good," he said.

"What do you mean, my blood is no good?" Hawke demanded. "I'm healthy! I haven't been exposed to the Taint! Take my blood!"

"No! Wrong blood type! You're AB Positive, Shepard O Negative! Blood type incompatible! She needs blood of her own type!"

"I'm O Negative," Jacob said, rolling up his sleeve. "Hook me up."

"Jacob, this isn't like you're donating blood," Dr. Chakwas said. "Shepard will need a large portion of your blood."

"I owe Shepard this much, doc. Now hook me up."

"I'll ask around the ship, see who else is O Negative," Tali said, walking out the door.

"What do you need of us?" Bethany asked. "We can provide healing spells."

"Unknown how magic would react, too risky," Mordin said, securing the blood transfusion to Shepard. "Damn it all! New blood getting corrupted far too fast! Need more blood? No, risking donor's life. Think, Mordin, think."

"Anders helped heal Jeff's broken bones, it seems helpful enough," Dr. Chakwas said. "Cast whatever you need."

"No! Introducing too many variables! Can't accurately guess outcome!" Mordin insisted. "Need to limit variables, find what works."

"Shepard is dying, Mordin! We don't have time for a guessing game!"

The door to the med bay opened, and Sandal stumbled in. Two Cerberus crew members were trying to drag him away.

"What is this?" Dr. Chakwas demanded.

"Sorry, this fucker is just too strong," one grunted. "We tried to stop him, but he just ignored us."

"Cure blood," Sandal yelled.

"Get him off the ship!, Mordin said. "Can't have distractions."

"Hyperactive man! Cure blood!" Sandal yelled, pointing at Jacob.

Four more crew members came forward to carry Sandal off.

"Wait," Dr. Chakwas said. "I think he might have something."

"Of what? Curing the blood of Jacob, who isn't even infected?" Mordin said. "Stupid, waste of time and—No, won't cure Jacob, he's not infected. Would provide additional immunity to poison?"

"Jacob's blood is becoming corrupted as soon as it enters Shepard's body," Dr. Chakwas said. "If we 'cure his blood,' could we flush out Shepard's blood with blood that is already immune to corruption?"

"Unlikely. Sounds too easy, like it works on paper but not in reality," Mordin said. "Besides, blood doesn't work like that. Would need to defy laws of physics."

"We do have to mages here," Hawke said. "Didn't you say that's against your 'physics?'"

Mordin and Dr. Chakwas traded looks.

"Could work," Mordin said. "Far too many unknown variables, yes, but best bet we have."

"Anders, we need you to cure Jacob," Dr. Chakwas said.

"I'm on it."

"Jacob, I'm also going to give you a good dose of medi-gel, just to help out."

"Sure thing, doc."

"What should we do with the boy, doctor?" A crew man asked.

"Curing blood?" Sandal asked.

"Leave him here. Might need his insight with magic," Mordin said.

* * *

><p>"Dig! Dig! Dig!"<p>

The rock before her started to crumble. Shepard yelled, rejoicing. Another stone down, another stone that didn't stand in her way to the dragon.

She paused for a second. The voices seemed to be getting distant, the smell of the burning bodies fading.

"Dig. Dig. Dig."

"No!" She yelled. "Come back!"

She wanted to be with the darkspawn. She felt like she found the most loving family she could ever have. She longed for them, like she longed for red sand when she went clean to join the Alliance.

The voices grew softer and softer until they were a whisper, and finally until she couldn't hear them anymore.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Groaning, Shepard opened her eyes. The white walls of the med bay stung her eyes.

"She's waking up!"

Dr. Chakwas appeared in front of her.

"Shepard, can you hear me?" She asked.

Shepard nodded.

"Is she going to be alright?" Hawke asked from beside her.

"We don't know, we have to make sure she's fully recovered from this 'Taint,' and we have to make sure she's all mentally here," Dr. Chakwas said, shining a light into Shepard's eyes. "Pupil dilation normal. That's good news."

"What happened?" Shepard croaked. Her throat felt as dry as a desert.

"You were infected with the Taint," Hawke said. "You know, darkspawn blood?"

"The ogre," Shepard said, remembering the massive monster.

"Yes, that's right," Hawke said. "You gave us a scare. We had to rush you to the surface and back to your ship."

"How long?" Shepard asked.

"It took us more than a good day of hard, fast traveling to get you here. Miranda ordered some shuttle thing to pick us up."

"No, how long was I out?"

"You've been out for the better part of three days, Commander," Dr. Chakwas said, reading her pulse. "Good, you're heartbeat is back to normal."

Shepard groaned. She felt like shit.

"Do you remember anything, Commander?" Dr. Chakwas asked.

"I remember hearing voices, seeing the darkspawn," Shepard said. "I...I was helping them dig, trying to find a dragon."

"You were dreaming?"

"Anders would have an answer. He says that all Gray Wardens hear the voice of the darkspawn because of the Taint. Shepard could be suffering from the same thing," Hawke said.

"We'll ask him after we run some more blood tests," Dr. Chakwas said. "Now rest, Shepard. You've earned it."

* * *

><p>Shepard's entire body was exhausted, and no matter how long she drifted in and out of sleep, she couldn't seem to regain any energy. Her dreams were filled with nightmares and dream-like trances. She had dreams of her life on Earth, the days of the gangs. She saw herself stealing, looting, killing, and fucking. All of the red sand she took when she was a teenager, she took all over again. All of the men she hooked up with, she relived it all. And then came Akuze.<p>

The battle with the Thresher Maw, the slowly approaching death, seeing every one of her friends die, holding Jonathan as he passed on, and her final rescue. She relived her massive depression, her near suicides, her addiction to anti-depressants, and her final rehabilitation.

The SPECTRE try-out mission, the Prothean beacon, the terrible memories it left her, and the hunt for Seren. Recruiting Wrex and Garrus, saving Tali, rescuing Liara, and Ashley's sacrifice on Virmire. The attack on the Citadel, and her choice to let the Council die.

The attack and her death at the hands of the Collectors, being revived by Cerberus, and the rebuilding of her team. Saving Garrus, awakening Grunt, helping Tali with her treason trial, brainwashing the entire Geth population, and the final suicide mission.

Just as the final battle with the prototype Reaper was leaving her head, she finally got enough energy to wake up.

Her eyes were slow to open, her entire body seemed to be slow to react. She looked around the med bay. Hawke sat in a chair next to her bed, sleeping. Dr. Chakwas lying at her desk, her head resting in her arms. Anders was sleeping on the ground. Tali, Merrill and Thane were the only ones awake, playing a game of cards.

Shepard groaned, trying to stretch her cramped muscles.

"Shepard!" Tali said, seeing that she was awake.

"You're still with us?" Thane asked, walking over.

"I think so," Shepard said. "Is there some water I can have?"

"Of course, I'll get some," Thane said, walking to leave the room.

"Anders, wake up," Merrill said, shaking the mage gently. "She's awake."

"How are you feeling?" Dr. Chakwas said, yawning as she was woken up.

"Much better," Shepard said. "Feels like I was sleeping for decades."

"It's amazing how four days of straight sleep can make you feel," Hawke said, stretching himself. "How is she, doctor?"

"Her vitals are reading as strong as ever," Dr. Chakwas said. "No sign of the Taint, either. She's reading perfectly healthy."

"Can you hear any voices?" Anders asked. "You know, the darkspawn voices?"

"No," she said. "Maybe a whisper in my dreams, but I don't hear anything."

"That's good. The bad news is that you'll have those for the rest of your life," Anders said. "Shit, I still hear them every so often."

"I think I can handle a few voices," Shepard said. Thane walked back into the room carrying a pitcher of water.

"I ran into Rupert. He said he'll cook you a feast to welcome you back to the land of the living," Thane said.

"That sounds pretty good," Shepard said, her stomach growling. "Can a girl get some privacy to take a shower and change into real clothes?"

* * *

><p>Shepard was a little weak from lying on her back for a week, but she was still able to shower all by herself. She was grateful for that, but even more grateful for the feast that Rupert made.<p>

Once she stepped outside the Normandy, the entire crew gave a cheer. Rupert had pulled out all the stops and made all of Shepard's favorites: lasagna, potato-leek soup, barbecued ribs and a massive fruit salad. She was pushed to the head of the makeshift tables before she could even begin to thank everyone.

"To Shepard!" Grunt said, raising his cup. "She might scare us, but she'll never die easily!"

"Here, here!" Every chorused.

"To Rupert," Shepard respond. "For knowing how to cook us all a damn good meal."

Everyone toasted and dug into the food.

* * *

><p>The feast lasted far into the night. Varric and Merrill helped build a roaring bonfire, and the crew slowly moved from eating to drinking by the fire. Shepard had finished her meal and was slowly nursing her drink at the table when Hawke sat down next to her.<p>

"Getting worn out from eating?" He asked.

"Sure feels like it," she said. "But the food was damn good, so that helps."

"Too true," Hawke grinned. "I'm sure you've been getting this all night, but you really did scare us back there in the Deep Roads."

"I'm sure I did," Shepard said. "I'm glad you were there to help get me back to the Normandy. I didn't think I'd make it."

"You can't honestly think you were going to die. I've heard plenty of stories about how you've defied death; I thought it would be second nature to you by now."

"I could say the same about you."

"Point. It looks like we've all laughed in the face of death," Hawke said. "Mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure."

"Do you ever get tired of all the fighting?" Hawke asked. "From what I've heard, you've had more near-death experiences than me, and I certainly wish I could've avoided a few fights."

"Yea, I don't like what I've gone through," Shepard admitted. "But I've never had to fight face-to-face like you have. It seems worse if you have to kill each other with a sword."

"You do get to see and hear plenty of death rattles," Hawke said. "But if you tire of it so much, why do keep doing it?"

"Because I can't expect others to do it for me," Shepard said.

"Really now, why do you do it?" Hawke asked.

Shepard sighed.

"I don't know. I'm just...drawn into it," she said. "Everything in my life seems to be just out of my control. Akuze, the Prothean beacon that started the whole Reaper thing, the Collectors, damn, you don't know what I'm talking about."

"I know a bit of what these 'Reapers' are, but I'm getting the idea you're making," Hawke said. "You just seem to have a talent for finding trouble."

"That's exactly it," Shepard said. "It's like I have a sign over my head that makes me a target for everything, and I can't avoid it."

"I certainly know that feeling," Hawke said. "Every problem seems to have a way of finding me and dragging me into it. It's like I can't live a normal life."

"I don't even know what it's like to have a normal life," Shepard said.

Hawke chuckled.

"'Thrown into the chaos, you fight. And the world will shake before you.'"

"Sorry?"

"Oh, that was something I heard from a witch," Hawke said. "She was the one who saved us from the darkspawn before we came to Kirkwall."

"I like it," Shepard said. "It's like my life summed up into one sentence."

"Don't forget a good pinch of prophecy thrown in for good measure," Hawke added.

The two sat alone, watching the fire and sipping at their drinks. Varric sat ten paces from the fire, his back to it, as he told a crowd some wild story. Shepard could see Garrus and Thane in the group. Everyone was silent as Varric spoke.

"I know this is personal, but you keep mentioning it," Hawke said. "What happened on Akuze?"

Shepard sighed. She didn't want to think about it ever again, but she felt like she could tell Hawke.

"It's...damn, I don't even know where to start," she said.

"Then start at the beginning," Hawke said.

"I'll be going back pretty damn far," she chuckled.

"I've got all night."

"Alright," Shepard said. "Did you know I used to be a xenophobe?"

"You mean a person who hates aliens?" Hawke said.

"Yep."

"No, you? You, who have aliens running around the ship, who always talk, eat and drink with them? You used to hate them?"

"Hard to believe, huh?" Shepard said, a solemn grin on her face. "That used to be me. I grew up on Earth. That's humanity's home planet where we're from. I grew up in a massive urban slum there. Didn't know who my mother or father was. My earliest memory was being carried around by a black haired girl. When I got old enough, maybe six or so, she told me that she found me in a run-down apartment somewhere. She belonged to a gang, so it was only natural that I joined a gang too.

"She died sometime when I was seven. Some kind of turf battle, I don't remember. The rest of the gang took me in. They were called the Red Street Gang. We were just kids, but we thought we were the shit. And if there was one thing we hated, it was aliens. Humanity made first contact, that is, our first meeting with aliens, way before I was born, but we still hated them. We thought they were freaks, and that we, humans, were the ones to rule over the galaxy instead of a group of aliens. One thing we loved to do was firebomb restaurants who served aliens."

"You threw fire into buildings?" Hawke asked.

"That was my initiation to the gang," Shepard said. "I was twelve. Stole some gas, stole a bottle of wine, made myself a Molotov cocktail and threw it into a bar. The newspapers said I killed four people. I don't remember much of what happened that night. We got rip-roaringly drunk to celebrate my initiation."

"You got drunk to celebrate you killing four people? When you were twelve?"

"I know. I was so proud of myself then, but I'm ashamed to say it now."

"So you found a family of some kind in that gang?"

"Yea, sort of. I was a bit of a freak to them, too."

"How so?"

"I'm a bit of a biotic. That's sort of like being a mage here from what I understand."

"I never saw you use your biotic-magic before."

"That's because I was picked on my entire life for it. I can't do much, just throw a ball of energy around, but I swore that I'd never use it. When I was a kid, before I joined the gang, some kid tried to rob me. I pushed him back with a simple biotic push, but that was enough for a few of the other kids to kick the shit out of me. So I never used it. I don't even think that anyone on the Normandy knows I can use biotics."

"All to fit in. I'm not blaming you, but you did all that to seem normal," Hawke hastily added.

"Yea. And it worked. Once I joined the gang, they all seemed to forget I could use biotics. But after a while, I had to start proving that I was still part of the gang. They started me off pickpocketing. Then it was robbing stores. Sometimes a kid would walk somewhere he wasn't supposed to, and we beat him up. Sometimes they would have me fight other girls, then other boys when I started winning so much."

"You willing did it?"

"Of course. I thought I was doing this for my family. I learned to love it. One time when I was fifteen, a girl spat at my feet, so I beat her up. Sent her to the hospital with a caved-in face and missing most of her teeth. We partied that night, and I lost my virginity. Shit, you probably didn't want to hear that."

"It certainly spiced things up," Hawke chuckled.

"No kidding. That's when I started, well, liking boys," Shepard said.

"Wait, you mean...?"

"I was pretty loose back then. I was just like Isabella, chasing guys just for fun. And then there was the red sand."

"Red sand?"

"It's a drug. Speeds you up, makes you feel invincible. I started at fourteen because everyone else was doing it."

"Sex, drugs, and a spot of the ultra-violent. What didn't you do?"

"Did I mention the gang killings?"

"I think that speaks for itself."

"It sure does. Earned me a reputation. No one really wanted to fuck with me, unless it was the guys."

"So what made you change?"

"A group of my friends in the gang, my really close friends, we decided the gang wasn't going anywhere. We were either going to get killed in a turf battle, or arrested and thrown in jail where we could get killed by someone with a grudge. It wasn't a pretty picture. So we decided to show the 'alien scum' just what we were capable of, and joined the Alliance, the human army. Back then, they would take nearly anyone that volunteered. Humanity was just getting into galactic politics, and we needed a bigger army. So we went sober, somehow cutting out the drinking and red sand, the worst month of my life at that point, and we joined the Alliance.

"We were all stationed in the same unit. We were on top of the world, giving lip to aliens when they were our ranking officer and beat up others whenever we could. We traveled the galaxy, saw some action, and when we went to the Citadel, the center of the galactic community, I met Jonathan there."

"Sounds like a love interest."

"A one-sided one. Jonathan was a new recruit to our unit, and he fell for me pretty hard. I didn't know it for a long time, I always saw him as just another boyfriend, someone to sleep with. I had no idea he saw me as someone more than that, someone special."

"When did you find out how he felt?"

"At Akuze," Shepard said. Her eyes fell. "Fucking Akuze. It's a frozen wasteland, an absolute waste of space. Our company, including our unit, was send out there to see if we could establish a small comm base, just a stepping stone to larger Alliance bases. We had no goddamn clue that a Thresher Maw was there; it was the first time humanity actually met one."

"What's a Thresher Maw?"

"The cockroaches of the galaxy. They're massive, acid spitting, tunneling monsters. They somehow find a way to infest planets. They make that ogre we faced look like a baby."

"Damn."

"It's almost impossible to kill, too. You need really heavy weapons, preferably a tank."

"Did you have this tank?"

"We did, it just got hit first. The Thresher Maw tunneled underground, picked it up, tossed a few hundred meters, then crawled over to eat it. We had to fight it on foot. It took nearly four hours of playing cat and mouse with it, but we killed it. But by the time it died, it had killed nearly everyone. Only half my unit and seven other people made it. I got off light with a shattered arm. Everyone else was immobile, including Jonathan.

"Our ship was also destroyed. It was our only ticket off the planet, so we Jerry-rigged an SOS beacon and hoped that someone would come soon."

"How long were you stuck on Akuze?" Hawke quietly asked.

"Nearly two fucking month," Shepard said. Tears welled in her eyes. "We only had enough supplies to last two weeks, including air."

"You had to bring air to the planet?"

"Shit, I forgot again. Yea, other planets don't usually have the same air we breathe, so we have to bring our own. We only had enough air for two weeks and three days. The rest of the supplies were destroyed in the attack.

"It was worse than hell. Because I was the least injured, I had to do everything; scavenge all the supplies, build a shelter, move everyone to the shelter, find a way to keep everyone warm, bury all of the dead, all that shit I had to do by myself, all with a shattered arm. And then people started dying.

"It was the few people who were too injured from the attack. We couldn't do anything to them but bandage wounds. Some needed surgery, but we couldn't cut their suits open without them decompressing or freezing to death. They died slowly. One asked me to put him out of his misery, and I did. I blew his brains out."

"Maker above."

"You want to know the sick thing?" Shepard asked, trying to hold back tears. "That's what saved me. Whenever someone would die, it would give the rest of us their rations. The first week, four people died, and we suddenly had another week of food and air. Whenever someone else would die, we'd get three or four days of water and air. It was sick, me wishing everyone else but me and Jonathan would die. And they did. Slowly and painfully, they died. Either from their injuries from the Thresher Maw, or from the cold.

"Three weeks went by, and then it was just Jonathan and me. He'd gotten Thresher Maw acid on his leg, burned it off. I'd barely had time to seal his suit before it attacked again. Even then, he got sick, some kind of blood poisoning. We'd have enough supplies to last us two more weeks if we were careful. I kept trying to tell Jonathan that we'd make it, he just had to hold on, I told him this again and again, but all I could do was lie. He was dying in front of me, but I was too damn stubborn to let him go. I kept feeding him, giving him new bottles of air, doing everything. I couldn't be the last one alive on that planet.

"On the fourth day of the third week, he'd had enough. I was going to change his air bottle, but he stopped me. He overheated his gun and used it to fuse his air bottle to his suit. I cried like a little girl, trying to find a way to save him. That's when he told me that he loved me, that he wanted to marry me, have children with me. He said that because he couldn't marry me now, he was content with spending the rest of his life with me. It took him two hours to suffocate, and I never left his side."

Shepard paused, collecting herself.

"I had enough supplies to last me a month now if I rationed it right, but I just wanted to kill myself. I almost did it, too. Got a gun, put it to my head, but I couldn't pull the trigger. Other times I'd walk away from the camp, just walk for hours, trying to freeze to death or suffocate, but I'd always end up running back before I ran out of air, or froze in place. I was fucking pathetic.

"Finally, three weeks later, a ship finally found me. I woke up to see a ship land just twenty meters away from my camp. I was so stiff and frozen that I could barely run, but I hobbled out to the ship. Would you know who rescued me?"

"Who?"

"Asari commandos. They're aliens like Samara. Our SOS signal was so pathetic, it could barely get out of the system. No one knew we were there; it was a small mission, and the Alliance just figured we were building the base. The asari just happened to be passing by when they picked it up. When they landed and came out for me, I didn't know they were aliens. It wasn't until we were in the ship and they took off their masks. But I didn't hate them; I actually thought they were the most beautiful creatures in the galaxy."

"You were so glad to be alive that you couldn't focus on being a xenophobe?"

"I guess so," Shepard said, drying her eyes. "After nearly dying for almost two months, I just couldn't bring myself to hate anyone, not even the doctors who saved me when I told them to let me die. Don't get me wrong, I was glad to be alive, but I hated it, too. I wanted to see Jonathan again, to be held by him, all that mushy romance stuff, I wanted it. He was the first person to truly love me for me.

"The asari took me back to the Alliance, and they put me in the hospital for years. Not only so I could physically recover, but to get me to stop trying to kill myself. I tried it all, stealing pills to overdose, drinking drain cleaner, I just couldn't do it. I never had enough pills to trigger an overdose, I'd puke up the cleaner."

"That's why you got angry when I made that comment about suicide. Maker, if I knew what happened to you, I'd never have said it."

"But you thought it."

"I said it because I thought we were talking about Aveline, not about you or anyone else. I was only referring to her."

"I think I understand," Shepard said, "but you had to know that it could be taken that way."

"It was a stupid thing to say, and I admit that I was wrong," Hawke said. "Can you accept my apology?"

"Yes, I can," Shepard said. "Thank you for understanding."

"Can I ask how you...you know, got over it?"

"Captain Anderson saved my life," Shepard said. "I was in the hospital's pysch ward for just under a year when Anderson came to see me. He said he heard about my survival, and my repeated attempts to off myself and wanted to talk to me himself. He asked me what happened, and I told him everything. My childhood, me joining the Alliance, Akuze, everything. I told him everything, and he just sat there and listened.

"When I was done, he asked me if I really wanted to kill myself. I told him I wanted nothing more, and he asked me why I didn't kill myself when I was back on Akuze, or just flat out die. I had plenty of chances, after all. I said that I tried to, but he cut me off, saying why I never went through with it. I said it was because I was scared of dying.

"He said that I had a force in me that wanted to live. He said I didn't survive Akuze just to die later; if it was my destiny to die, I would have died on that frozen dust ball. Then he gave me his sidearm and told me that if I was serious for killing myself, than I should go all the way."

"He gave you his gun?" Hawke said in disbelief.

"Yes. Told me that he bet that I wouldn't kill myself, and to keep it out of sight of the nursing staff. And I did. Every night, I'd put the barrel in my mouth and will myself to pull the trigger, but I just couldn't do it. I was a crying, blubbering heap every night with that gun in my mouth, but I just couldn't do it. I had the taste of gunmetal in my mouth every single day, too. Whenever I'd eat, it would taste like that damn gun. After a week of that, I just couldn't take the taste of gun anymore. I figured that I spent over a year of trying to kill myself, and that it was time for me to move on with the rest of my life. A few months of recovery, and I was released and posted back on active duty. Still have the gun, too. The nurses never found it."

"That has to be the most incredible story I've ever heard," Hawke said. "Shit, even Varric's stories don't compare to that."

"Thank you for listening," Shepard said.

"Thank you for telling me," Hawke replied. "I know it must've taken a lot of faith in me for you to tell me something that personal."

"Now that you mention it, this has to be the first time I've told anyone about Akuze since Anderson," Shepard said.

"You're serious."

"Yes, no one ever asked before," she said. "Normally, they'd have read about it on my service record, or would hear it through rumors. No one ever asked me to tell them about it personally."

"Maybe they were being polite."

"It's possible," Shepard admitted. "It would be kind of rude to ask how I nearly died."

"I want to say something witty, but I can't think of anything," Hawke chuckled. Shepard laughed.

"Okay, you're turn."

"My turn for what?"

"Telling me about yourself. If you can ask, than I can ask, too."

"I guess it's a fair request," Hawke said. "Damn, after hearing that, it sounds like I was spoiled my entire life."

"Be grateful."

"With you here, I am. Let's see, I was raised in a small town in Fereldan called Lothering. It's a small farming town, nothing really special. Bethany was a mage, and mother and father didn't want her taken into the Circle Tower, so we had to keep her under wraps, hidden from the Templars."

"They put mages in a prison just to keep them from turning into demons?" Shepard asked.

"It's 'for the protection of all,'" Hawke said. "It's a nice thing to call a prison. We didn't want Bethany taken away, so we moved around a lot. Always came back to Lothering when the Templars weren't around, though.

"That all changed with the Blight. A massive army of darkspawn attacked Ferelden, and killed the King in his last stand. A traitorous act by a noble Logain. He was supposed to attack the darkspawn when we signaled for it, but he never did. After the battle, Lothering was just in the way. The darkspawn attacked it, and we had to run for our lives.

"We lost my brother, Carver, as we fled. An ogre crushed him, send him to the Maker's side where my father was. That's also where we met Aveline and her husband Wesley. I told you about him, right? He got the Taint, but wasn't nearly as lucky as you were. That's also when we met the witch Flemeth."

"A witch? A rides-a-broomstick, big-nose, green-skin witch?" Shepard asked.

"No, not the kind of stories we tell children about. She was a witch that could turn into a dragon," Hawke said. "Scared the shit out of us, too. Thought we walked in on the Archdemon. Turns out she wanted to know who killed an ogre, me by the way, and asked us for a favor. We had to take a pendant to a group of Dalish elves by the city of Kirkwall. We agreed, she got us past the darkspawn, and we took a ship to Kirkwall.

"What a mess that was. Fereldan refugees were flooding the city. Our uncle, Gamlin, was able to get us in by hiring us out to a mercenary group for a year. It was a tough year, but we made it, able to get into Kirkwall. Aveline decided to join the guards, though, and I helped her expose a corrupt Captain of the Guard. The Viscount was impressed, and made her the new Captain of the Guard.

"Our lives weren't that easy, though. We were dirt poor, living with Gamlin in the slums. Tried to join Varric's brother, Bartrand, on an expedition into the Dark Roads to go raiding for forgotten artifacts. See, we thought the Roads would be mostly empty after a Blight, and we were right. Had to scrounge up fifty gold to become partners in it, but after a few odd jobs and meeting Isabella, Merrill and Fenris, we had the coin. I went into the Roads with Varric, Aveline and Anders. I insisted that Bethany stay home with mother. I couldn't bear to lose her, or anyone else.

"Now let me tell you, we had it easy in the Roads this time. We spent around at least a month in the Deep Roads when I went down there. We found a lyrium idol, gave it to Bartrand, and it turned him mad. He locked us in the Roads, and we had to fight our way out. Made out like bandits, yes, but we had to spend an extra two weeks finding our way out. When I got back to Kirkwall, the Templars had found out about Bethany, and took her away to the Circle.

"With the money I got from the Deep Roads, I moved into High Town, taking back an old family estate that dear uncle Gamlin sold to pay off his debts. Then we had to deal with the Qunari. What a mess that was."

"I heard you talking about them a few times. What's up with them?"

"Most of the city hated them. Wanted them gone, but they weren't leaving. A sister in the Circle, a crazy bitch at that, tried to frame them and start a war earlier, but this time she nearly did it. That pushed the Qunari over the edge. They took over the city, killed the Viscount, and were going to start another Exalted March, a massive war between the Qunari and Free Marches."

"And the Free Marches are?"

"It's the land that Kirkwall is part of."

"I see. But you stopped him, right?"

"Who told you the story?" Hawke chuckled. "I don't know how, but I did. Turns out Isabella stole an artifact from the Qunari, and they were there to get it back. She turned it over, but the Arishok, the leader of the Qunari there, wanted to take her to be punished, so I fought him for her. Gave me this lovely scar right here."

Hawke lifted up his shirt. A massive scar ran from his stomach around to his back.

"Holy shit."

"Hurt like you wouldn't believe. Don't know how I got out of that one alive, but I did. They named me Champion of Kirkwall for that. Few years later, the damn city was ready to tear itself apart all over again. This time, over the mages and Templars.

"Knight-Commander Meredith saw blood mages whenever she'd sneeze. Wanted to kill all the mages to be safe. She was absolutely bonkers. I tried getting things done peacefully, like taking her out of power, but the shit didn't go down anywhere like I wanted it to. And then Anders blew up the damn Chantry."

"Is that the Circle?"

"No, it's the church. They kept the peace between the Templars, the Circle, and the mages. Anders blew them up to inspire a revolution, plunged the city into chaos, and made me fight the mad Meredith."

"I think that's when we showed up here," Shepard said.

"I think it is. Saw a massive star falling towards Sundermount. Could that have been you?"

"Pretty sure it was. Small world, huh?"

"Indeed. So that's my story in a nutshell. I didn't bore you, did I?"

"No, it was actually pretty good," Shepard said. "But now the mages all over the world are rebelling, right?"

"They should be starting sooner or later, but yes, that's just what Anders wanted."

"From the way he describes it, it sounded like the mages had no life before this."

"Bethany agrees so. I feel for the mages, I really do, my sister being one, but I don't know how I like this whole 'world revolution' thing. Lots of people are going to die."

"That's the sad truth."

Silence fell as Shepard finished her drink.

"So you have enough fuel to get back home?" Hawke asked.

"To power the Normandy," Shepard said. "We still have to find a way to get back home. Anders was talking to Tali and Legion about it. Maybe they came up with something."

"No matter what they come up with, it has to be easy compared to what we've done," Hawke said.

"When you've gone through the kind of shit we did, everything is easy by comparison," Shepard smiled.

"It's good that you can smile about it," Hawke said. "It's going to be strange to see you leave. Just when I was starting to get used to a space girl walking around with her alien companions."

"And I was getting used to seeing a warrior boy with his dwarf and elf friends," Shepard smiled. They looked at each other, saw how close they were, but suddenly backed off.

"I didn't mean," Hawke stammered.

"No, no, it's my fault," Shepard said. "I didn't, shit, I don't know what was happening."

"But it was a nice feeling, wasn't it?"

"To tell our stories? Yea, it was nice."

"Damn awkwardness had to ruin the moment."

"You weren't being awkward."

"It's just...you're very beautiful, you know that, right?"

"I've been called plenty of things, but not beautiful. Not since Jonathan, anyways."

"And I don't want to try to replace him to you or anything."

"No, I know you weren't trying anything. It's...I haven't been very, well, sociable since Akuze. Not with men, not that way."

"And I don't blame you."

"Was there anyone special in your life?"

"Yea, a girl, Suzanne, back in Lothering. I saw her and her entire family killed by darkspawn."

"Now why didn't you say that when you were telling your story? I told you about Jonathan."

"I don't know."

"You weren't trying to be macho, were you?"

"No! I panicked! I never told anyone about her, not even Bethany or Carver. I was going to ask for her hand in marriage before the Blight came, tell everyone that we'd been together, sneaking hugs and kisses and midnight visits to the family barn and all that, but seeing her killed just..."

"Part of you died, right?"

"Yes. You got to have a moment with Jonathan. I didn't have any of that with Suzanne. She was running to me, a darkspawn came up from behind her, and stabby-stabby, she was gone."

"I'm so sorry."

"Thank you."

"I don't mean to pry or anything, but was there someone, you know, after her?"

"I thought there was Isabella, but I was wrong."

"She wasn't into you?"

"She's into everyone. Just not into love. She was married once, believe it or not."

"Really?"

"Really. Her husband abused her."

"That cocksucker."

"You don't need to worry about him. An assassin killed him long ago. Since then, she's been a free spirit."

"So she gave you the pumped-and-dumped?"

"Yea, the old fuck-and-run."

"She didn't run very far, did she?"

"No, she kept it professional."

"Good to know it wasn't a hit-it-and-quit-it sort of thing."

"How many names for a simple shag do you have?"

"That's about it, I think."

"Damn."

"So how does it feel to finally get that Suzanne thing off your chest?"

"It actually feels kind of good. Especially knowing that someone knows how it feels."

"That always makes things better."

Shepard trailed off and Hawke looked away, blushing slightly. Most of the crew were still by the fire. He saw Isabella talking to Tali. He guessed that from Tali's shy-like movements, Isabella was making her move.

_Dammit, Hawke, just go for it. Be like Isabella. Be fearless for the night._

"Well...did you still want to, you know, keep the feeling going?" Hawke stammered.

"I don't know. I have to set an example for the crew. I'm their commander, after all," Shepard said, blushing. "We have to keep focused on getting out of here, but..."

Hawke leaned forward and kissed Shepard. Shepard returned the kiss, like she was waiting for the right moment. The kiss lasted for several heartbeats when it ended.

"I'm sorry," Hawke said. "I just couldn't sit here anymore."

"No, it was fine," Shepard said. "Damn, I've gotten bad at this. When I was a teen, it was a night of drinking and flirting, a quick kiss to start it, then it's back to the room."

"I'm afraid I don't have much of a room," Hawke said, looking at his tent.

Shepard paused, the response on the tip of her tongue.

_Fuck it._

"Well, I do," she said. "I'm no Suzanne, though."

"And I'm no Jonathan."

"No, but I have a feeling you're just what I need."

"As are you, Shepard."

"Jane," she said.

"Garrett."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

The lights in the room slowly rose to simulate morning. Hawke ignored them as best he could, but he could never resist the morning's beckoning. Groaning, he slowly, reluctantly, woke up. Shepard was lying in his arms, still sleeping. Hawke stopped moving, not wanting to wake her.

Shepard shifted slightly, but remained asleep. Hawke was content to stay in bed, so he did. He gently brushed aside Shepard's hair, looking at her sleeping face. He hadn't felt this good since before the Blight. He decided to try and sleep some more, so he closed his eyes, and surprisingly drifted back off.

* * *

><p>"Commander," EDI called on the room's speakers. "Commander, are you awake?"<p>

Roused from her sleep, Shepard groaned. She started to lean up, but felt Hawke's muscular arm on her shoulder. He groaned as he was waking up as well.

"What is it, EDI?" Shepard said.

"Tali and Legion wish to speak to you. They say they have found a way to get back home."

"Tell them I'll be down in a bit."

"Of course."

"She didn't know I'm here, did she?" Hawke asked, getting up.

"No, EDI doesn't have any sensors, er, eyes in this room," Shepard said.

"Good to know you've still got your privacy." Shepard watched as Hawke got up. She saw his scars last night, but in the morning, they looked different.

"How did you survive all that?" She asked.

"What, the scars?" Hawke said. "Honestly, I have no clue. Maybe I'm built tougher than I think I am."

Shepard gently ran her hand along the massive scar that the Arishok gave him.

"It looks worse than it was," Hawke insisted. "It's not like he buried his ax all the way up to my spine. I thought I side-stepped his ax, but he pulled it back. Cut through my armor as he pulled it back."

"And it just kind of cut around you?" Shepard asked.

"But it felt like I was being cut in half. Scared the shit out of me, thinking I was dying. That's when I rallied, and won the fight." Hawke pointed to a deep scar on Shepard's left arm. "Where did you get this?"

"That's from my trip to Akuze. The Thresher Maw knocked me aside, breaking my shields and shattering my arm," Shepard said. "It was an open fracture, too. Somehow the bone didn't poke through the suit, or I'd have been a dead girl."

"How in the Maker's name did you fix that without a healer?"

"I got a nice, quick drunk going with some contraband booze, then pushed the bone back in place and wrapped it up. I passed out for a day after that."

"I don't blame you."

"What about all these tiny scars?" Shepard asked, running her hand along Hawke's chest.

"Mostly archers. That was before I got good armor. _Never_ go cheap on armor."

"I'll keep that in mind," Shepard laughed.

"You know, I thought with your armor, you'd never get hurt," Hawke said.

"Which one? The real armor or my tech armor?"

"Is that the glowly thing you have?"

"Yep, that's the one," Shepard said. "All armor has its weaknesses. Just because we're from space doesn't mean we can make invincible armor, although the Sentinel tech armor sure helps. I'd imagine your shield is a great help."

"Don't even want to know how many times its saved my life."

The two fell quiet, just looking at each other.

"Did they really find a way to get you home?" Hawke said.

"If anyone can find a way home, it'll be Tali and Legion," Shepard said.

"Do you really have to go back to your home?" Hawke quietly asked.

"Yes, I do," Shepard sighed. "There's still a threat to the galaxy."

"Those Reapers."

"Yep, just as I told you last night. I'm sorry, but this can't last."

"I know it won't," Hawke said. "Still, I had to ask. I can't just let a beautiful woman slip away from me."

"And I can't let a handsome man be by himself."

"If it turns out that you can't go back home, you could stay with me," Hawke said. "The entire world probably wants me dead for the whole mage thing, but we can find a way to make this work."

"Just the two of us against the world," Shepard sighed. "This is just the mushy stuff that I wanted from Jonathan."

"It's what I wanted to tell Suzanne. Her father didn't exactly approve of me."

"Didn't approve of you? Why not?"

"He thought I was some smooth-talking kid. First time I met him, he was sharpening his sword, giving me a hard glare."

"We have a stereotype just like that," she laughed. "The father cleaning his gun welcomes his daughter's boyfriend."

Shepard leaned forward to kiss Hawke. He returned the kiss, then held her close.

"We still have to face the world, you know," Shepard said.

"I know," Hawke said. "But I can wish for this, can't I?"

"I sure am," Shepard said.

* * *

><p>"Did you find anything?" Shepard asked, walking outside to Tali, Legion and Anders, who were sitting at a small table away from the dining area. Garrus, Varric and Jacob were standing with them.<p>

"Yes, Shepard-Commander," Legion said. "Creator-Tali claims that she found an Element Zero-like reading from Healer-Anders' spell. It is identical to the reading that the mass relay gave off when we were transported here."

"It's really, really big magic," Anders said. "I used it to blow up the Chantry."

"And it apparently tore a hole in the fabric of reality, either by itself or with help from a mass effect field," Tali said. "Shepard, we found a way home! All Anders has to do is put this magic on a boulder, we blow it up, and we can go home!"

"But I need to see it in order to activate the magic," Anders said. "Otherwise, you'll need a massive spell to activate the explosion."

"We have the Thanix Cannon. Think that might work?" Garrus said.

"It'll certainly blow it up real good," Jacob grinned.

"Then it looks like the space people got themselves a ride home," Varric said. "Wish I could tell this story without being called mad."

Shepard looked at Hawke as he was getting his breakfast.

"Alright," she said. "Anders, can you put this spell on a boulder? The biggest one you can find?"

"Just give me a few minutes to cast it."

"Legion, what's the status of the Normandy?"

"During your recovery, the crew has been repairing the Normandy. It is currently operating at eighty-six percent efficiency, but is space worthy."

"Great," Shepard mouthed. "Start packing things up. I want us ready for take-off at night."

* * *

><p>The crew worked fast, tearing down the impromptu kitchen and bringing it back into the Normandy. The hull patches were checked and double checked. Kasumi and Tali took down the holographic barrier, and Grunt pushed Anders' magicked boulder into the hanger.<p>

"You're really going, aren't you?" Hawke asked Shepard as they hid behind one of the Normandy's wings.

"Yea, we really are," she replied.

"If it turns out this doesn't work, my offer still stands," Hawke said.

"I wish I could take it up," Shepard said. "But we have a galaxy to save."

"And I'm sure I have a world to right," he smiled sadly. "I'm going to miss you."

"Don't. Please don't make this harder than it is," Shepard said. "I'm sure Isabella or Merrill really care about you."

"Isabella might not admit it, but I'm sure she has some feelings somewhere, but I'm not seeing Merrill. She's always so quiet and shy around me," Hawke said.

"That's a sign that she's into you."

"Really? I always thought she was shy and awkward with everyone. You sure about that?"

"Trust me, it's a girl thing," Shepard said.

"Guess I'll have to trust you. So what about you? Is there anyone who you can see as a special someone? You have enough men on the ship for it to happen."

"God, that's what Isabella asked me," Shepard groaned. "Of course, her idea of 'intimacy' must mean shoving her thumb up someone's butt."

"Don't tell me that was your personal experience when you were younger."

"Alright, I won't tell you," Shepard grinned.

Hawke kissed her, and she returned it.

"If this really doesn't work out, we'll stay in the clearing for the night," Hawke said as the kiss ended.

"If it doesn't work, I'll be back here faster than you can blink."

* * *

><p>"How are the engines, EDI?"<p>

"Engines are running at optimal output, Jeff."

"And the mass effect field generator?"

"It's fine."

"Reading green across the board, Commander."

"Miranda, is everyone buckled up?" Shepard asked.

"_All good to go, Shepard."_

"Take her up, Joker."

The Normandy's engines flicked to life, and the ship slowly rose from the ground. Gaining speed, it took off from the planet.

"Well, there she goes," Hawke said.

"That was a damn beautiful ship," Isabella agreed. "I'm going to miss it."

"Miss the ship, or miss the men?" Aveline asked.

"Both, I guess," Isabella replied. "Jack's tattoos were amazing up close. And Tali was so cute, but she didn't bite. Turns out that Garrus really knows what he was doing, though. Nice to see that aliens can romance just as well as dwarfs can."

"Should I be scared that he's threatening my 'Paragon of Manliness' title?" Varric asked.

"Of course not, Varric. But I have to give credit where credit is due. Only bad thing is that I got a little sick this morning. Think I did something Mordin told me not to do, something about 'ingesting.'"

"Can I ask that we don't hear what you did?" Merrill asked.

"I second that request," Aveline said.

* * *

><p>"We have broken planet's gravity well. Arriving at optimal distance for detonation," EDI said.<p>

"Ready for some target practice, Garrus?" Shepard asked.

"_Thanix Cannon is powered up. Ready and waiting,"_ he replied. _"Never thought I'd be shooting rocks, though."_

"Waiting for order to release boulder," EDI said.

Shepard looked back at the planet. At this distance, it was just a small blue ball, no bigger than the palm of her hand. She wondered what Hawke would say if he saw how beautiful the planet was. It was something truly worth protecting. But she had her own planet to protect.

"Release it," Shepard said.

"Opening hanger bay door," EDI said. "Decompression detected. Boulder is away."

"Got it on targeting," Garrus said. "Three, two, one, firing."

The Normandy rocked as its main gun fired. From the helm, Shepard saw the beams of energy lance out at an invisible rock. Suddenly, a bright red ball of magic bloomed in front of the Normandy.

"_Massive spike in the mass effect generator,"_ Tali said. _"The fields are inverting, just like the first time."_

"We're being pulled towards the explosion's epicenter," EDI announced. "Twenty seconds until arrival."

"This is Commander Shepard to all hands," Shepard said over the ship-wide channel. "Hold onto something tight, we're going home."

"I hate this part," Joker said. "I fucking hate this part. Next thing you'll know, I won't have a ribcage anymore, just a bunch of broken baby back ribs.

"Don't worry, Jeff. The vacuum suit you're wearing should protect you," EDI said.

"Famous last words," Joker muttered.

The Normandy flew forwards, and disappeared in a flash of red light.

"Do you think they made it back alright?" Merrill asked as she cleaned up the pot of porridge.

"If anyone can make it back, it'll be Shepard," Hawke said, looking at the rising sun.

"They said if nothing happened, they'd be back by morning," Varric said. "Well, it's morning, and they're not here. They must've made it back."

"It's certainly been a wild ride with them here," Isabella said, stretching.

"It sure had," Hawke whispered. He turned to his friends. "Well, does anyone have anywhere they're dying to go to? Preferably somewhere that doesn't have Templars?"

"We still have to get to Orlais," Bodahn said.

"Sounds like a good enough place," Hawke said.


End file.
